Duel for the Souls Saga
by Hal Horn
Summary: This original series details a different chain of events following Battle City's conclusion--no Doma, KC Grand Prix, or Memories Saga (yet). But, now, a year after being crowned the Battle City Champion, Yugi Muto has a new (well, old) threat.
1. Duel for the Souls 1: Prologue

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh!, and all affiliated characters, etc, are property of Kazuki Takahashi.

**Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**Duel for the Souls **

**IN THE BEGINNING I: **

**Prologue **

**The Story:**

It is a year after Seto Kaiba's Battle City tournament, with Yugi Muto hailed as champion. After returning the Egyptian God cards and the Millennium Necklace to Ishizu Ishtar, he goes back to a normal teenage life, about to start his junior year in high school.

Marik Ishtar, freed of the dark spirit inside him, tries to reunite his Rare Hunters to get revenge on Yugi and his friends, but is betrayed—by the dark spirit inside the Millennium Puzzle he won from Bakura Ryou. The spirit uses his body to return to Bakura, and takes with it the Millennium Rod and Eye.

Now, the spirit of the Millennium Ring, with three Millennium Items at its disposal, is preparing to take the rest of them, including Yugi's Millennium Puzzle . . .

* * *

Seto Kaiba awoke with a start. He looked around the room he was in. It was his office, with papers and tools scattered around. On the floor was a machine—or what would someday become a machine.

Kaiba shook his head in disgust. He hated when he fell asleep at his desk. It showed weakness of body and mind. At least no one else had noticed it. Kaiba didn't need to lose any more support from his company.

Losing to Yugi Muto at his own tournament had been humiliation enough.

Over the past year, it dominated Kaiba's thinking. How was it that Yugi had beaten him, time and again? The first time had been two years ago, after Kaiba took and ripped up the Blue-eyes White Dragon card belonging to Yugi's grandfather. Yugi was on the verge of losing, as Kaiba played all three of his Blue-eyes.

But then, Yugi did the impossible. He assembled the only unstoppable card in the game: Exodia the Forbidden One. Not even three of Kaiba's precious Blue-eyes could stand in its way. Exodia completely destroyed Kaiba.

The second time, it hadn't actually been Kaiba. It was an impersonator hired by Maximillion Pegasus using Kaiba's deck. Kaiba was presumed dead at the time, at the hands of some of Pegasus' henchmen. They took his deck, for the soul purpose of using against Yugi Muto.

Yugi would have lost, had Kaiba not created a computer virus to weaken the Blue-eyes so that they couldn't attack. Yugi managed to revive one of them, and used it to defeat the imposter.

The third time he faced Yugi, Kaiba was victorious. He played an expert strategy, using a variety of debilitating combos to weaken Yugi's deck. First, it was a Crush Card virus, delivered by Saggi the Dark Clown. It destroyed Yugi's deck, obliterating all of his monsters with more than 1500 attack points. Yugi was forced into using his weakest cards—cards that could not compete with his monsters.

Yugi put up an amazing defense. He used a Griffore/Horn of the Unicorn combination assault to destroy a few of Kaiba's monsters, but then Kaiba created the ultimate east, a monster beyond compare, with no peers. A creature that had no rivals. He fused his three Blue-eyes White Dragon cards and formed the Blue-eyes Ultimate Dragon. With it, he decimated Yugi's deck further, until Yugi was forced to make desperate moves that could not topple the Ultimate Dragon.

Things then turned on Kaiba, as Yugi fused his zombie monster Mammoth Graveyard with the living Ultimate Dragon. Bonded in that way, the monsters rejected it. And, with each passing turn, Kaiba's ultimate beast lost power, until it had next to nothing.

Yugi continued his defense, playing a weak monster called Kuriboh. But, using a magic card called Multiply, one Kuriboh became a thousand. They absorbed the Ultimate Dragon's every attack. And, for each one Kaiba destroyed, two more took its place. It was an impenetrable wall, and Kaiba was on the verge of losing his monster.

Yugi then played Celtic Guardian. The weakened Blue-eyes Dragon couldn't fend off an attack, and one of its three heads was destroyed. Kaiba lost the life points, and his creature was too weak to continue. Next turn, he was through.

And he had failed his brother, Mokuba.

Pegasus had kidnapped Mokuba, with the intension of taking over KaibaCorp Technologies, Kaiba's company. Only a Kaiba family member could make executive decisions, and Mokuba was Kaiba's younger brother. If Pegasus could get rid of Seto, permanently, he could use Mokuba as his puppet, doing things for him.

And Kaiba had made a deal with Pegasus. If he could defeat Yugi Muto, then he would be able to face Pegasus, and duel to free his brother. He had failed, and now Mokuba would be that twisted, sadistic fool's prisoner forever.

But the former Duel Monsters World Champion had one last trick up his sleeve. He backed up, and stood on the edge of the tower he and Yugi dueled on.

"_If you attack, the resulting shock waves may cause me to lose my balance and fall_," Kaiba had said. He knew that Yugi would never risk injuring Kaiba. He knew that Yugi didn't have it in him. He wasn't willing to do anything to save the ones he loves. But Kaiba did. Even if it meant risking his own life, he would do anything for Mokuba.

As Kaiba had predicted, Yugi relented. He didn't attack. So, on his next turn, Kaiba revived the Blue-eyes head Yugi had destroyed, and used its restored power to finish Yugi off. Kaiba had won, barely.

But he didn't manage to save Mokuba. He lost to Pegasus, and then Yugi beat him, freeing them all.

Kaiba's last face-off with Yugi had been at Battle City's finals, last year. Kaiba thought he would win easily, for he had the power of an Egyptian God card on his side. The Battle City rules were made specifically for Obelisk the Tormentor. But Yugi also had an Egyptian God card, Slifer the Sky Dragon.

Kaiba took control of the match, finding a way to get Slifer into his own deck. But Yugi's trap cards were frustrating, and he managed to keep Obelisk out of the game for a while. It was a race for the God cards.

Once they got their respective cards out, things got interesting. The two monsters clashed, in a dazzling display of explosions. But neither was destroyed. Kaiba knew he needed to come up with some way to defeat Yugi, so he managed to sacrifice his Egyptian God and bring out all three of his Blue-eyes.

Yugi's Slifer's effect was that its attack power was 1000 multiplied by the number of cards in the controller's hand. Yugi only had two cards in his hand, so Slifer only had 2000 attack points. Whereas the three Blue-eyes Kaiba had played had 3000 attack points each.

With Slifer out of the way, Kaiba fused his three Blue-eyes once again, creating the Blue-eyes Ultimate Dragon. Yugi, on the other hand, could only play a weak Red-eyes Black Dragon, a card he won earlier in the tournament. Yugi also stalled for time, playing Swords of Revealing Light to paralyze Kaiba's monsters for three turns.

It was all the time Yugi needed to turn the duel around. He played his favorite card, the Dark Magician, and a card face down. When Ultimate Dragon was freed from the Swords, he attacked, and Yugi sprung his trap: Magical Hats. For two turns, Kaiba attacked the hats, but then Yugi played a new monster, fusing his Dark Magician with Buster Blader forming Dark Paladin, the Ultimate Magician Knight.

When Kaiba declared his attack on the weaker monster, Yugi activated his De-fusion card, breaking the Ultimate Dragon back into the three Blue-eyes Dragons it was composed of. Then, Kaiba learned of Paladin's ability: its attack power was raised 500 for each dragon on the field. It destroyed Kaiba's dragons with the aide of Diffusion Wave-Motion, and lead to his defeat.

It had been humiliating.

And the support of KaibaCorp was slowly being sapped away with each defeat. Kaiba needed to earn back their support . . .

Suddenly, his eyes widened. Something was wrong, not just that he had fallen asleep in the wrong place. Something was terribly, terribly wrong.

Kaiba jumped up from his deck, knocking over the leather swivel chair, and ran from his office. The office was in the apartment he shared with Mokuba, past the bedrooms and living chambers.

Kaiba passed by his room, and arrived at Mokuba's. He pulled open the door and burst inside, instantly surveying the room. The sheets and pillows were scattered all over the room, and the mattress was on the floor. Toys and Duel Monsters cards were all over the place. And the window was open.

He leapt over the clutter, landing by the window in time to see a rope pull away towards a shadow-shrouded building nearby. He also saw three people, concealed in the shadows, duck away, holding a Mokuba-sized sack.

"No!" Kaiba grunted, pounding his fist against the windowsill. Pain shot up his arm, but it was nothing compared to the turmoil inside.

Once again, he failed the one person who meant more to him than Duel Monsters, KaibaCorp, or anything else in the world.

_But I will rescue him_, Kaiba vowed silently. _No one will get in the way of me. Not ever again._

_Not Yugi, or any of his pathetic friends. _

_No one._

* * *

"Yugi! Tea and the others are here!" came the call, as usual. Also, as usual, Yugi Muto was still getting ready for another summer day. He pulled on a shirt, and cracked open his door.

"Coming, Grandpa," he called back. He continued getting dressed, pulling on jeans, shoes, and, most important of all, the Millennium Puzzle. The Millennium Puzzle was an artifact from Egypt, five thousand years old. It was made of gold, and shaped like a four-sided pyramid, inverted and hanging from a metal chain.

It also had magic properties.

The Millennium Puzzle was one of seven Millennium Items, created from magic five thousand years ago by the Egyptian ruler, Yami. In Egypt, games of great power were played back then, similar to Maximillion Pegasus' Duel Monsters game. In fact, Pegasus had based his card game on these "Shadow Games." In ancient times, these games had gotten out of hand, since they were played with _real_ magic and _real _monsters, and threatened to destroy the world.

An Egyptian ruler had risen, and locked the powers of the games inside stone tablets. Over time, sorcerers and priests began to learn how to unlock the creatures. The Shadow Games were reborn. Before long, the game once again brought the world to the brink of destruction. A group of priests, led by High Priest Seto, revolted against Pharaoh Yami.

The final clash took place in the pharaoh's throne room, as those still loyal to Yami battled against the priests. Soon, it came down to Yami and Seto, to decide the fate of the world. It was unknown how that battle went, but it was easily assumed, since the world was still in one piece, that Yami was victorious.

To finally defeat the Shadow Game's power, Yami locked the magic away in the seven Millennium Items: the Puzzle, Eye, Ring, Key, Rod, Necklace, and Scale. Yami sealed his spirit, in his final act, inside the Millennium Puzzle.

That was the only thing that Yugi did not understand. If Yami was victorious, why had he been forced to seal his soul away? And, why was the spirit of Priest Seto also sealed inside a Millennium Item, the Millennium Ring?

That was the Millennium Puzzle's magic power, though: it contained the spirit of an Egyptian ruler. Whenever Yugi needed help, Yami was there. Their spirits fused, and they shared Yugi's body. They were a formidable team, as anyone they have ever faced learned the hard way.

Yami and Yugi had a long history together. Yugi hadn't known it for a long time, though. First, Yugi was the reincarnation of Yami, his modern-day form. They were united when Grandpa brought Yugi this strange artifact from Egypt. A puzzle. Yugi assembled it, after having a small misadventure with one-time bullies—and now two of Yugi's best friends—Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor. He felt a strange, mystical energy inside the assembled puzzle.

His first experience with the spirit inside was when he and Joey learned that Tea Gardner, a girl from school, was saving up money to go to a dance school in America. Yugi located an old warehouse she could use as a dance studio, and went there to meet her after school one day. When he got there, he found her being mugged, and blacked out.

Later, he learned that Yami had saved Tea, defeating the thief at a variation of Duel Monsters.

His next major experience with Yami was the duel against Seto Kaiba, right before Duelist Kingdom kicked off. When Seto had won Grandpa's cherished Blue-eyes card, and ripped it in half. The stress had given Grandpa a heart attack. Yugi dueled Kaiba, using the infamous Exodia set to destroy all three of Kaiba's Blue-eyes. He didn't remember much, other than what his Grandpa had told him, and had a vision of him.

"To this day, no one has been able to assemble all five special cards," he had remembered Grandpa telling him.

"_Like the pieces of a puzzle, Yugi!_"

Just days later, he faced Maximillion Pegasus in a Shadow Game, where more information about the Puzzle and the Shadow Games of old came to the light. Also, it started Yugi's Duelist Kingdom adventure, when Pegasus used the magic of his Millennium Item, the all-seeing Eye, to steal Grandpa's soul.

During the Duelist Kingdom tournament, he finally learned of Yami, and many things about his past. But he also learned that Yami was determined to win, sometimes at any cost. Like in their third duel against Kaiba.

"_If you attack, the resulting shock waves may cause me to lose my balance and fall_," Kaiba had said, smugly. "_You wouldn't want that, would you?_"

Yami ordered the Celtic Guardian to attack, but Yugi resisted. He managed to get control of his body, to tell the guardian to _stop_.

"_I couldn't control it; this other spirit inside me. It was willing to go all the way against Kaiba. _

_"I'm scared—so scared that I will never duel again."_

And he hadn't trusted the spirit again. It almost cost him his grandfather.

It was Mai Valentine who brought him out of that, in the semifinal match of Duelist Kingdom. She, in her own way, brought Yugi and Yami together, made them join and unlock a power unlike anything either had experienced.

They managed to pull victory out of defeat in that duel, turning the tide on Mai. And what a victory! Mai, when Yugi and Yami joined forces, hadn't been touched—she still had 2000 life points. Yugi, however, only had 200. And still, he managed to take down her Mirror Wall, destroy her Harpie's Pet Dragon, and summon the ritual monster Black Luster Soldier.

Then he had to reach a new level of understanding with Yami. To beat Maximillion Pegasus, they had to trust in each other's abilities alone. They had to give each other total control of Yugi's body for periods of time, to block Pegasus' mind reading abilities.

After defeating Pegasus, Yugi met Shadi, an Egyptian man who told him about the powers of the Millennium Items, even using the powers of his own, the Key, to peer inside Yami's soul. In that time, he learned more about the ancient war for power.

Over the next year, he learned more than ever. It started when Bandit Keith, being controlled by another Millennium Item, stole his Millennium Puzzle. Then, Yami and Tea went to the Domino City Museum, and met Ishizu Ishtar, who told Yami a little about his past, as pharaoh, and his destiny. In fact, she was the one who urged Yami to join the Battle City tournament.

If he thought he learned a lot from Ishizu, he was wrong. The person who had been controlling Bandit Keith made himself known during Battle City. Marik Ishtar, Ishizu's brother, pitted mind-slave after mind-slave against Yugi, and taught him many things, such as Yami had great powers as pharaoh, and that there was a trio of behemoths from ancient times that had been reincarnated as Duel Monsters: the Egyptian God cards.

In that tournament, Yami was to face his destiny, and save the world once again. Not just the destiny of defeating Kaiba—the reincarnation of the priest who led the rebellion against him. No, he was to save the world from a rebirth of the Shadow Games. To stop the one person with the power and will to do it.

He had to stop Marik Ishtar from achieving his goals.

His first opponent had been a Rare Hunter who used Exodia the Forbidden One, and had three sets of it. He was also the one that took Joey Wheeler's Red-eyes Black Dragon. Yugi beat him to get that card back for his friend. When he tried to give it back to Joey, though, his friend realized that he'd need all the help he could get.

Next, he faced Arkana, a former magician who had fallen in with Marik in hopes of being reunited with his lost love. He had been assigned with getting rid of Yugi and taking the Puzzle. He learned the hard way that Yugi was the true master of the Dark Magician card.

Yugi's first run-in with an Egyptian God card was in his next duel, against a mime named Strings, who was being completely controlled by Marik. Strings set up a purely defensive strategy, relying on a mix of Revival Jam, a monster that could reform itself each time it was destroyed, and a card that switched any of Yugi's attacks to target it. Once Strings sacrificed three monsters to bring out Slifer the Sky Dragon, it seemed that Marik would indeed take the Millennium Puzzle.

Slifer had two special abilities. Its attack power was 1000 multiplied by the number of cards in the controller's hand. And, whenever its opponent summoned a card, it automatically attacked, lowering the target's scores by 2000 points. Yugi had no way to defeat it, and soon despaired.

When Kaiba arrived, Yugi regained his composure, and set defenses against more of Slifer's attacks. He revived Buster Blader, and attacked Revival Jam. Then, he activated Brain Control, to take control of the Jam before it could fully reform. Slifer attacked it once it was fully restored, and it . . .reformed, on Yugi's side of the field. Slifer attacked, again and again, a continuous cycle.

And, thanks to Strings' Card of Safe Return, each time the Jam was revived, he drew three cards. Slifer and Revival Jam were caught in an endless cycle. And, with each revolution, he drew three cards. The biggest weakness in Slifer was that the number of cards in the controller's deck limited his power. And, Card of Safe Return caused him to draw until he could draw no more.

Yugi claimed Slifer, taking the God card from Marik. He only had one, now, and Kaiba had the final of the three. But Marik still had the power to control the minds of anyone he pleased. Such as Joey and Yugi's other friends.

And that was Marik's plan. He kidnapped Joey and Tea, and Kaiba's brother Mokuba, and forced Yugi and Kaiba to duel for their freedom. Though they did not work well together, Kaiba and Yugi defeated the Rare Hunter tag team Umbra and Lumis. But it didn't free Yugi's friends; Kaiba only got Mokuba back because Tea sacrificed herself so he could escape.

Once Umbra and Lumis were defeated, Kaiba used a helicopter to take Yugi to where Mokuba had escaped from the Rare Hunters. On the ride, Yami tried to explain to Kaiba what was going on, and the power Marik possessed—as well as the magic he was after. Kaiba didn't believe any of it, but that would change, when they arrived at the Domino Harbor.

Of all people, Joey Wheeler was there. Marik had used the Millennium Rod to control his mind. And Tea's, too. Both of them were there, and Marik, through their bodies, challenged Yugi to a duel, for Slifer and the Puzzle. And, for Yugi's very life.

Both duelists were strapped to an anchor, which, thirty seconds after that duelist's life points hit zero, would drop into the ocean. So, whoever won would be responsible for the death of a friend. And, if Joey was the winner, it would mean that Marik would succeed in gaining the Millennium Puzzle, and the power of the pharaoh.

The duel started, and Yugi was amazed how Joey's deck had been beefed up. In his first move, Joey played one of the rarest magic cards in the game. Then he weakened Yugi with direct attacks and powerful direct-damage magic cards like Hinotama.

The duel kept getting worse and worse for Yugi, as Marik outdid his every move. But then, Yugi got an idea. The only way to get Joey to resist Marik's control was to show him the Red-eyes Black Dragon card. Because Joey had told Yugi he would never take that card from him.

Yugi played Exchange, so that they could swap one card in each player's hand. Yugi had the Red-eyes Black Dragon, and Joey, remembering his promise, didn't take it—and resisted Marik's control!

The duel continued, and Yugi finally played the Red-eyes. By that time, he had asked Yami to sit the rest of the duel out, and then Joey had taken a piece of the Puzzle and threw it into the harbor. It was the same one that he and Tristan threw into the river, before Yugi had finished it. Back when they were a pair of low-class school bullies, of course.

Now, Yugi was on his own, and Joey played Rocket Warrior, weakening the Red-eyes. He managed to turn the tables on Joey, destroying both Rocket Warrior and Panther Warrior. Soon, though, Joey played a third Hinotama, which would destroy the last of Yugi's life points.

Yugi activated the trap card Magic Refpanel. Since the fire-based meteor attack targeted Yugi directly, Refpanel could send it to target Joey instead. Joey, like Yugi, had less than 500 life points. But Yugi had to wonder: should he kill his own friend.

But, Joey broke free of Marik's control, and found himself in a duel to the death with his best friend.

As the counter reached the end, Yugi decided to take the attack. His life points dropped to zero, and he had thirty seconds before death claimed him.

He told Joey to take good care of the Puzzle. Joey, instead of freeing himself, had Yugi's Red-eyes attack him and finish off his life points. Both of them would be dragged under.

Joey's sister Serenity saved him, and he saved Yugi and the Puzzle. Then they realized that both of them, and their friend Mai Valentine, who came with Tristan, Serenity, and gaming storeowner Duke Devlin, had the six required locator cards to enter the finals.

Soon, Yugi found himself in the Shadow Realm, facing his friend Bakura Ryou—under the control of the spirit inside his Millennium Rod and working for Marik Ishtar. Bakura, as in his last duel against Yami, played a defensive strategy, relying on powerful magic and trap cards to weaken Yugi, and win.

Yugi conquered, when he summoned Slifer the Sky Dragon. The mighty God destroyed the last of Bakura's monsters, before the Destiny Board could create the four ghoulish Spirit Messages.

Next, Joey faced a man named Odion, posing as Marik—right down to having a fake of the God card called The Winged Dragon of Ra. Joey won by a mere technicality—both duelists had been electrocuted by the might of the fake God card. Joey barely won, but he had.

Kaiba faced Ishizu Ishtar, the head of an archeological institution based in Egypt, and the possessor of the Millennium Necklace. She was the one who warned Yami that he would face the reincarnation of his age-old nemesis, Kaiba—along with a new evil, which turned out to be Marik.

She prophesized that Obelisk would be Kaiba's undoing, in that duel. It almost came true. She inserted a virus into Obelisk—if Kaiba attacked with it, the attack would backfire and destroy Kaiba. The dark spirit of Marik, surfacing after Odion's injury, warned him, and Kaiba sacrificed it to summon his Blue-eyes White Dragon, winning the duel.

Next, Marik finally made his appearance as the leader of the Rare Hunters—until that time, he had been disguised as a young duelist prodigy named Namu. He faced Mai Valentine, and used the power of his Millennium Rod to destroy her memories of her friends, one at a time.

She tries to, as a last resort, use The Winged Dragon of Ra she swiped from Marik through the effect of a magic card. But, as all of those watching soon learn, only an Egyptian can control its great might. The monster strikes her down, and Marik uses the Rod to lock her inside her own mind.

The Battle City finals were interrupted by some of Kaiba's ex-employees and newfound enemies: the Big Five, the former members of the KaibaCorp Executive Board. Kaiba had defeated their plots twice, with Yugi's help. The first had been the whole purpose behind Pegasus' Duelist Kingdom tournament, trying to take over KaibaCorp. The other time had been the attempt at revenge, within the Virtual World.

It took time, but, eventually, Yugi and his friends escaped their return adventure into the virtual world. And the Battle City's final rounds began.

It started in a four-way Battle Royal, with the first two people facing each other, and the two winners dueling each other again. Marik and Kaiba teamed up to take out Joey, but Yugi and Joey united against Marik, and Kaiba, seeing him for what he was, joined them. Much to Yugi's dismay, he then proceeded to take out Joey.

Joey was okay with that; he wanted to get revenge on Marik for what he did to Mai. He soon realized that he was in deep, with Marik turning the duel into a Shadow Game. Joey put up a valiant fight, and would have won, if the trial hadn't been too much for his weakened body. Marik won, but barely. Marik would face Yugi, or Kaiba, and claim both of the God cards.

Yugi, on the other hand, wasn't so happy—he now had to face Kaiba, to claim Kaiba's God card, Obelisk the Tormentor.

It was, literally, a clash of titans. It started as a race for the God cards, with Kaiba managing to snatch Yugi's first, then Yugi getting it back and playing it. Then, Kaiba summoned Obelisk. The two monsters collided, but nothing happened. The God cards had no effect on each other.

Kaiba sacrificed Obelisk to get out his three Blue-eyes White Dragons, but Yugi's Slifer was too weak to fend off an attack from them. He managed to summon Joey's Red-eyes Black Dragon. Joey recovered from his match with Marik by that time, urging Yugi to play it.

Kaiba played Polymerization, fusing his three Blue-eyes into the Ultimate Dragon, and destroyed the Red-eyes. Yugi activated Swords of Revealing Light, paralyzing the three-headed behemoth. He summoned Dark Magician, and played Magical Hats, to conceal it. Kaiba attacked twice, and both hit empty hats.

Yugi played a Polymerization of his own, to combine Dark Magician with Buster Blader, and created Dark Paladin. Kaiba, not realizing its power, attacked, activating Yugi's De-fusion card. The one Ultimate Dragon became three smaller ones, each increasing Paladin's power by 500 points. Yugi won, claiming Kaiba's Obelisk card, and was now going on to face Marik.

The same Marik who banished Mai and Bakura to the Shadow Realm, who manipulated Yugi's friends, and who was bent on destroying Yugi and ruling the world.

But then Marik turned the Battle City's final duel into the largest Shadow Game since the time of Priest Seto and Yami. Marik's dark spirit trapped Yugi's, Mai's, and the real Marik's souls. Yami would have to face Marik's dark spirit, and, if he lost, Yugi, Mai, and Bakura—whom Dark Marik promised to release if Yami won—would all be banished to the Shadow Realm for all eternity. With the soul of the real Marik, no less.

But, should Yami win, Yugi and the others would be freed, except for Marik's soul.

The duel began, and Yami sacrificed the three Magnet Warriors to summon Slifer the Sky Dragon. Dark Marik also summons his God card, the Winged Dragon of Ra. With 5400 attack points, it easily destroyed Slifer. Marik then summons a monster and sacrifices it instantly.

But no other monsters appeared on the field.

Marik explained another of Ra's unstoppable abilities: by sacrificing monsters, its power could go up. Marik continues to do this, until Ra has the highest attack points of any monster Yugi has ever faced. It was stronger than Blue-eyes Ultimate Dragon, stronger than the Legendary Five Gods Dragon, more powerful the Dragon Master Knight. Nothing could stop it.

Yami manages to destroy the Winged Dragon with the Devil's Sanctuary card Kaiba gave him. Then, he summoned Obelisk, and attacked Marik directly.

And Marik declares that he was waiting for that attack. He played a monster that took on Obelisk's stats, and then fused it with a Revival Jam to create the God Slime. Soon, he also revives Ra, and Obelisk attacks, doing . . . nothing.

Dark Marik explains that God cards have little effect on each other, especially when it comes to their special abilities. He prepares to attack, and wipe out the rest of Yugi's life points . . .

. . . As Yugi uses his Dimension Magic card to bring Dark Magician to the field, and then—with the combined powers of Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl—destroyed Ra with the card Raknarok. And, somehow, the destruction of Ra released Marik from the Shadow Realm, switching his spirit for the dark one. He forfeits the match, destroying the dark spirit and releasing Yugi's friends. He also hands over the Winged Dragon of Ra to Yugi, who gives it, Slifer, Obelisk, and the Millennium Necklace back to Ishizu.

Now, a year later, Yugi and Yami are both happy to have saved the world from a rise of evil, and Yami has spent much time brooding over what he and Yugi learned from the Necklace.

Yugi finally bounded down the stairs, and saw his friends waiting for him. "Hi, guys," he said, trying to suppress a blush. He was a half hour late! "Sorry I'm late. Where to?"

"Well, since you ain't givin' us any directions," Joey Wheeler, a blond teenager with the looks of a wannabe thug, said in a slow drawl of a southerner, said. "How about Duke's place?"

"Sure, why not?" Tristan said, and Tea nodded.

"See ya later, Grandpa!" Yugi shouted into the door, and he and his friends walked down the street.

* * *

"Follow them, my mind slave," a man shrouded in darkness said. "Soon, I will have all that I desire. As I took the Millennium Eye from Maximillion Pegasus, and the Rod from Marik Ishtar, I will soon own Yugi's Millennium Puzzle!

"The world shall bow before me, as it should have five thousand years ago. I will not allow Yugi and his friend The Pharaoh to defeat me again!"

**TO BE CONTINUED . . .**


	2. Duel for the Souls 2: Return of the Rare...

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* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**Duel for the Souls IN THE BEGINNING II: Return of the Rare Hunter**

**Last Time:**

Mokuba Kaiba is kidnapped, and his big brother Seto Kaiba vows to rescue him. Meanwhile, Yugi and his friends leave for a weekend of fun in Domino City, not realizing that a new evil is rising, and it is more brutal than anything they have ever faced.

* * *

"What do you mean, you can't help me?" Seto Kaiba, creator and CEO of KaibaCorp Technologies, shouted in the face of the portly police officer.

"Now, Mr. Kaiba—" he began.

"My little brother has been _kidnapped_, out of _the most secure_ building in this entire _country_, and you can't help get him back? You make me sick. Get out, before I call security on you!"

"Mr. Kaiba, I, uh, I—"

"_Get out_!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. He wouldn't do what he'd do with someone else—lift him up by his shirt collar and thrown him out. But, he couldn't do that with law enforcement officers.

It would be far too much paperwork to fill out, after all!

But, without them, how was he going to track down the monster that had taken his brother? It wasn't Maximillion Pegasus, the creator of the world-famous Duel Monsters game, and it wasn't that creep Marik Ishtar. Both of them had practically dropped off the face of the planet, since, well, since Yugi defeated them.

Kaiba's blood boiled as that name rushed through his mind. Yugi Muto, the King of Games, the Battle City Champion, the Duel Monsters World Champion.

All things that Kaiba should be.

Sure, Kaiba was famous. He was the creator of the biggest innovative technology company in the history of the earth. He, Kaiba, designed the VirtualPod virtual videogame world, the holographic dueling arenas, and the portable Duel Disks.

Not to mention that Kaiba had, at one time, been the unquestioned World Champion of Duel Monsters, until Yugi, and then Pegasus, defeated him. It had almost cost him his life, when he lost to Pegasus. But, of course, Yugi beat Pegasus, and rescued Kaiba and Mokuba, his little brother.

Once again, Mokuba had been kidnapped.

Nobody knew who had done it, where they were, or why. All Kaiba knew was that he had to get his brother back. No matter what, he would. Without help, if necessary.

"I'll save you, Mokuba," Kaiba whispered, once security had chased the police out. "I won't fail you. Not ever again."

* * *

"Hey, guys, wait up!" Yugi Muto cried out, his short legs pumping furiously to keep up with his friends. He was a few heads shorter than all of them, so it was hard work. Yugi, after all, had always been short for his age, which was more evident in his junior year at Domino High School than ever before.

Joey Wheeler, the tall blond duelist who had, over time, become Yugi's best friend, dropped back. "Hey, Yug, you're slowing us down!" he said. With a smile, he matched his pace to Yugi's, as Tristan Taylor and Tea Gardner dropped back as well.

"Sorry, but, in my opinion, you guys are just too tall!"

"We can't help that," Tristan, wearing his leather jacket and some motorcycle equipment, responded, "any more than you can help being the King of Games."

"Well, when he's right, he's right," Joey said. He grinned again, and looked from Yugi to Tristan to Tea. "Listen, guys, I've got a little problem," he began.

"Well, out with it!" Tea said. She was the mediator and problem solver of the group, and she always got into other people's problems.

"Well, I'm going to be entering that big Duel Monsters tournament that's been on the news the last few nights."

This was news to Yugi. A new tournament?

"So, what's the problem, Joey?" Tea responded.

"Yeah. You did come in the semifinals of Battle City, and you were Duelist Kingdom's runner-up, after all," Tristan goaded.

"Well, you should know, Tristan. After the way you took to my sister Serenity," he shot back angrily. That meant it had something to do with his little sister.

"Is there something wrong with her eyesight?" Yugi asked.

Joey's face softened. "Yeah. She was just admitted into the hospital last night. That operation last year didn't do the trick, and now her eyes are worse than ever. If she doesn't get another operation, at a special hospital in America, then she will go blind in a month."

"Don't you still have a million dollars left over from the Duelist Kingdom prize money?" Yugi wondered.

"Yeah, but, between plane tickets, the hospital fees, and all the rest, it totals over five million dollars," Joey informed them.

"So, how much dough does this other tournament provide?"

"Tristan, I'm glad you asked. Six million US dollars, on a check. More than enough to get through the operation, and put me and Serenity both in nice colleges."

"I didn't see you as the intellectual type, pal," Tristan joked.

Joey's face turned red, but his left jab missed by a foot. "Well, at least my brain isn't rotted by thoughts of motorbikes and girls," he snapped.

"Easy, Joey. We'll help you out. But, I don't think I'll be entering this tournament, since I'm not after any titles or anything." _I only entered Duelist Kingdom to save Grandpa, and Battle City to help Yami save the world. _Yami was the spirit that resided inside the Millennium Puzzle, an ancient Egyptian artifact. Yugi assembled the Millennium Puzzle years ago, and his life hadn't been the same since.

"You won't be? Great—I mean, that's too bad, Yug."

Yugi laughed. "I know how you feel—if I'm not there, than you won't have to face me." Tristan snickered at this, drawing another dirty look from Joey.

"Hey, I beat you at Battle City!" Joey protested.

"Actually, that was Marik. Besides, I let you win, when I didn't reflect your attack with my Refpanel card."

"He's got you there, Joey," Tea giggled.

"What? Whose side are you all on?" he demanded, but neither answered.

"Come on, Joey. We don't want to get to Duke's store _after_ it closes," Yugi said as he started to walk away, breaking the awkward silence. "Oh, and I think they're on _both _of our sides."

"Yeah, both," Tristan agreed tentatively, and Tea nodded. Yugi laughed to himself.

They reached the game store owned by Duke Devlin about five minutes of mindless chitchat later. It was a huge three-story building, with a carnival air. Yugi knew that the top floor was office space and a pair of dueling arenas, both of which could be used for either Duel Monsters or the dice game Duke invented.

They walked in, under the awning and giant clown doll, up to the front desk, where Duke was idly polishing some of his crystal dice. Joey ran right up to him, and took one of the crystal cubes out of his hand.

"Cool. So pretty! Who's it for?"

"Hey! Give me that!" Duke said, swiping at it. "It's a gift for my mother." He snatched it back, and set it in a concealed shelf inside the counter. "Now, what can I get you? Outgrow that dog costume already?"

Joey growled, but then said, "I need some cards. I'm entering the new tournament, and I'll need some extra firepower."

"Ah, the new tournament. I was thinking of going." He looked over Joey's shoulder. "Are you entering it, too, Yugi?"

"No. I don't really care about these tournaments." Yugi shrugged. "I think I'll take some packs, though."

"Don't tell your grandpa," Tea whispered.

"Right. I forgot. Anything good, today?"

"Just like any other day—nothing but the newest and best. Or the oldest and best. Well, I just have the best!"

"Such as?" Joey prompted.

"I just got a shipment in from Industrial Illusions yesterday. It's a whole crate of Labyrinth of Nightmare packs. You know, the set that has the Spirit Messages in it." Apparently, Joey didn't know, and Duke started to get angry. "Spirit Messages. You know, when you play all of them with Destiny Board, you win automatically."

"It's that card combo Bakura used on me at the Battle City finals," Yugi explained to Joey.

"Oh! Those freaky ghost things with the scrolls. The ones that spell 'Final!'"

"Right. Very powerful stuff, too."

"I think I'll take five of those," Yugi said, taking out a wallet. "How much is it?"

"Well, for you, free," Duke said. "You still have plenty of unused space on that tab of yours."

"No, I have to pay. How much?"

"Fine, if you insist, it'll be $21.00 even."

"Thanks. Here you go," Yugi said, handing Duke the money.

"I think I will use up my tab, and get a variety of packs," Joey said.

Duke shook his head. "What tab? It's been used up."

"Fine, then. Put it on Tristan's."

"Actually, Joey, I think I'll be buying some of these DungeonDice things. So, don't even think about it."

"Thanks, pal."

"Use mine, Joey. Don't worry about it. It is for your sister, after all."

Duke's head came up. "What about his sister?"

"Well, it seems that her operation failed, so Joey's entering the new tournament to win enough money to have another done."

"Oh. Joey, I'm sorry. I didn't realize—here, take any five packs you want, on the house."

"Thanks," Joey said, looking at Duke warily. Yugi knew that Joey wasn't blind to either Tristan or Duke taking an interest in Serenity. "I think I'll take one of those Revival of Demons, a pack of Advent of Union, Phantom God, Booster Chronicles, and, lastly . . . Spell of Mask."

"Here you go," Duke said, handing Joey the five packs Joey immediately ripped the wrapping off of the Advent of Union pack, and thumbed through the five cards. "Wow! The XYZ Dragon Cannon!"

"Kaiba has one of those," Yugi said. He'd heard about the amazing power of the Dragon Cannon, and its counterparts. They were some of the most powerful monsters in the game.

"And let me see . . . I got Fleeing People, Oppressed People, and Revolutionaries. Hey, Yugi, you have these cards."

"Right. They go with a great combo, but I don't remember what it was with."

"Well, I also have a new Poison of the Old Man card."

Duke leaned over to look at it. "It has too effects. Either you gain 1200 life points, or you can take away 800 from your opponent."

"Cool."

"What did you get in the other packs?" Tristan called over his shoulder. Yugi looked, and saw him covered in a mountain of DungeonDice-based toys.

"Don't know yet. I think I'll open Spell of Mask next." He did, and looked through. "Mask of Brutality, Amphibian Beast, Infinite Card, Mage Power, and Offerings to the Doomed. Nice!"

He moved on to Booster Chronicles. "Winged Dragon #2, Crawling Dragon, Bean Soldier, a brand new Garoozis, and Dragon Seeker."

"Some of those are really good cards. Dragon Seeker will be excellent if you ever go up against Kaiba."

"What about those other two packs?" asked Tea.

"Well, let me see what's inside." He tore the wrapping off of the Phantom God pack, and nearly fell over. "I can't believe this!" he cried.

"What?" everybody demanded.

"I got—I got—it's—"

"What?"

"A Red-eyes Black Dragon card!" Joey held it up like a trophy.

"Great!" Yugi said. Joey had lost his first Red-eyes card to a Rare Hunter, right before the Battle City tournament kicked off. In the first duel of the tournament, Yugi won back the powerful dragon card, and offered it to Joey.

Joey refused to take it, realizing that Yugi would need all the firepower he could get. Then, when Marik Ishtar took control of Joey's mind, Yugi used the Red-eyes to break Joey free.

"Wow! Another Red-eyes card!" Tea said. "Now both you and Yugi have one."

"That's right, Joey. You still have one more pack to open, too, don't forget."

"What could be in this that could beat my Red-eyes Black Dragon card?" Joey asked, not looking as he tore the wrapping off the final pack. "I mean—what on earth?"

"What is it this time?" Tristan called, finally pulling himself out of the pile of dice.

"It's a Summoned Skull!" Joey crowed. "Now I can create a Black Skull Dragon without taking control of an opponent's cards!"

"That makes you a serious contender now, Joey" Yugi said. "With these new cards, your deck can become more powerful than ever."

"I can, can't I?"

"Don't let it go to his head," Tristan warned.

"Yeah; my store isn't big enough for his ego and all of us."

"I know you'll win, Joey," Yugi said.

"Thanks pal."

"Well, what did you get, Yugi?" Duke asked. "Why don't you open those packs here, and destroy the evidence."

"Right. Uh, wow! Spirit Message 'I!'"

"Anything else?"

"Another Fusion Gate, a Bait Doll, The Emperor's Holiday, and Maryokutai." Yugi thought for a moment. "Maryokutai fuses with Zombyra the Dark, to form the Last Warrior from Another Planet. I have that card."

"Great. That thing is very powerful—and dangerous." Duke looked right at Yugi. "While it's on the field, no player can summon monsters."

"Then how are you supposed to beat it?" Joey asked.

Duke grinned. "You can't summon monsters, but you can still set them. A Man-eater Bug does wonders."

Yugi then opened the other packs. In each one was a Spirit Message card, except for the last one. Inside the last pack was Destiny Board, the card needed to even play the Spirit Messages.

"Amazing! I've never seen such luck before! All four Messages, plus Destiny Board. Four rare cards, and an Ultra Rare!"

"It's too bad that you aren't entering this tournament, Yugi. With those cards, you'd definitely win."

"Well, in that case, here, Joey," Yugi said, handing all of the cards to him. "Take them. That way, you have an even better chance of saving Serenity."

"Gee, thanks, Yug. You're always doing stuff like this. Like when you gave me that Time Wizard. If it weren't for it, I wouldn't have made it past my first duel."

"Don't worry about it, Joey. It's the least I can do."

"Listen guys, we have to get going," Tea said.

"Why?" Tristan asked, carrying an armful of dice.

"Because this is a Sunday, and I close earlier," Duke offered.

"Actually, it's because I have to get home early," Tea explained.

"Okay, then. Duke, just put these on my tab," Tristan said, dumping the pile onto the counter. "Okay?"

"Fine. That will, however, max it out."

"Fine by me," Tristan said. "I got some real good ones—check it out: a Blue-eyes White Dragon, in dice form!"

"Tristan, I should warn you—that's a very high-level dice, and almost impossible to dimension."

"But if I do, I have a big advantage," he pointed out.

"Yeah. Most people would just quit once they faced a Blue-eyes," Tea laughed.

"Well, see you later, Duke," Yugi said.

"Maybe I'll face you in the tournament," Joey called over his shoulder. Tristan and Tea both said their goodbyes, and left.

"Can we get something to eat, first?" Joey asked Tea, a few minutes later.

"Sure. I don't have to be home for another hour, but I expected you to ask." She winked at Joey. "The diner?"

"You mean that place you used to work at?" A few years earlier, Tea had gotten a job, illegally, at the Domino Diner, to raise money to go to dance school in New York. Yugi and Joey discovered her, but didn't turn her in. After that, they became friends.

"Yeah. Alright with you?"

"Fine with me," Joey said, and the others nodded their assent.

* * *

_Awaken my mind slave._

The words rushed through the man's mind before he could even register it. He was up in an instant, but he hadn't told his body to do anything. He couldn't control his own body. But he still had his memories, and knew exactly what was happening. It wasn't the first time, and, he knew, it wouldn't be the last.

This man was once a Rare Hunter, and had once served under Marik Ishtar, who, at the time, possessed the mind-controlling Millennium Rod. He was the first to face Yugi Muto, and the first to lose. His mind had been trapped in the Shadow Realm, until the Millennium Rod changed hands, to someone else even more sinister.

And, now he was being ordered to do something.

After his soul was returned to his body, the Rare Hunter joined up with former Intercontinental Duel Monsters Champion "Bandit" Keith Howard. He learned much of what a loser did. They spent a lot of time in back allies and bars. He'd managed to assemble one set of Exodia cards to replace the three Yugi had destroyed in Battle City. This time, they were not coated in ink.

_Find Yugi Muto, and destroy him._

"I will find Yugi Muto . . . and destroy him."

* * *

"That was good," Joey said, rubbing his stomach. It was starting to get late, and the sun was setting.

"You're right. That has to be the best meal I've had in a while."

"Tristan, that's because you make your own food now," Joey said, shuddering.

"Hey! Don't make fun of my cooking talents!"

"Or lack there-of," Yugi added. Tristan glared at him.

"Would you three stop bickering? Gees, you act like a bunch of little boys."

"Well, I am a little boy," Yugi replied sheepishly. Tea sighed.

But then, Yugi was thrown to the ground. He heard the other gasp, and then thuds, as they, too, fell.

Yugi was up on his feet in an instant. "What's going on?" he demanded.

A familiar laugh emanated from the shadows of an alley, and a cloaked figure emerged. On the hood of his cloak was the Eye of Anubis, the Millennium Symbol. It was the traditional garb of a Rare Hunter.

And this one was tall, taller than any of the others. His voice was deep, scratchy, and malicious. That meant that he was the one who took Joey's Red-eyes Black Dragon, the one with Exodia.

"What do you want, Rare Hunter."

"I want to duel you, and have a rematch from Battle City. I doubt you can beat me this time—my Exodia deck is even more formidable than before."

"I don't have a duel disk," Yugi said. He was stalling for time, hoping his friends would recover.

_Yugi!_ He heard Yami say through their mental bond.

_What is it?_

_I feel a connection between him and someone else. I think he is under the control of the Millennium Rod._

_Just great,_ Yugi thought to himself.

The Rare Hunter pulled open his cloak, showing that he had a KaibaCorp Duel Disk on each arm. "I figured as much, so I brought two." He tossed it to Yugi, who caught it and slipped it on his arm.

"What do you really want? And who are you? You think I can't tell that this is just a messenger; that he isn't under the control of a Millennium Item?"

The Rare Hunter growled, but then smiled. "You are quick. Yes, I want to invite you to join my tournament. If you win this duel, I will give you a piece of information, and allow you to take all five pieces of Exodia in this pathetic fool's deck."

"Why should I duel?"

"Because, if you don't, I will seal all of your friends in the Shadow Realm for all eternity."

"Well, in that case, what have I got to lose?"

"Your Millennium Puzzle."

_Yami, you better take over now._

_Right._

Power surged through Yugi, and then he felt Yami's presence inside him. "You will never claim the Millennium Puzzle," he said.

"That's what you think. Let the duel begin."

"Fine by me. Shall you go first?"

"It makes little difference, but I shall."

"Fine." The Duel Disk snapped into position, and fired off the portable hologram generators. Each landed two meters away from the Duel Disk and user, forming a rectangle, four meters by eight meters.

"For my move, I play Graceful Charity. A wise hunter knows to replace his weak hounds with healthy ones."

_He isn't being controlled any more! _Yugi realized.

_But he isn't backing down meaning he was willingly under control,_ Yami pointed out.

"And, I play Sangan, in defense mode, and set a card face-down."

"My turn. I play Celtic Guardian, in attack mode. Destroy Sangan." The pointy-eared elf swordsman leapt into the air, and slashed with his giant sword. The three-eyed fuzz ball was cut in half.

"Now I can take a monster from my deck, one with less than 1500 attack points."

"A piece of Exodia, no doubt."

"Right. I'll also activate this trap card, Call of the Haunted, and revive Sangan, in defense mode. And, for my turn, I'll play the Mystic Tomato, and have it attack your Celtic Guardian."

"Both of them will be destroyed, though!"

"Right. And, when Mystic Tomato goes to the graveyard as a result of battle, I can summon another Dark monster with less than 1500 attack points to replace it: Witch of the Black Forest, attack!"

The black-robed Spellcaster fired a ball of energy at Yugi, causing him to back up a few steps. His life points dropped to 2900. _He's doing well. When we last faced him, he had a completely defensive strategy. I wonder what he's up to now._

"Come on, Yugi!" Tea cried. "You can beat him!"

"Yeah! Kick his can, like you did last time!" Joey added.

"Beat him so good he doesn't ever duel again." Tristan shouted.

"This duel is almost over. I already have one piece of Exodia in my hand—and, if you attack, I will get two more."

"Not if I take them out of play," Yami shot back.

"How? With a Lesser Fiend card? Well, here's something to dissuade you from playing one: Prohibition. I select Lesser Fiend as a card neither of us can play."

"Who even said I had a Lesser Fiend card in my deck? No, I have more dangerous ways of taking those cards out."

"You're all talk."

"And you're not? I believe I am the one who won our last duel, not you. And I shall win this one, as well."

"That's what you think. But, I've already won. Even though I can only have one Witch of the Black Forest and Sangan in my deck, I can still revive them with an assortment of rare and powerful recursion cards." The Rare Hunter laughed. "Like a Revival am, they will keep coming back, until you destroy enough for me to play Exodia the Forbidden One, and take you down completely."

"I know of ways to take out your monsters before they can be revived. So, for my turn, I play Beta the Magnet Warrior, in attack mode." The yellow ball bearing warrior materialized in front of Yugi, and pointed both of its magnet hands at the Rare Hunter's monster. "I also play Premature Burial, reviving my Celtic Guardian. Finally, I'll activate this face down card: Royal Decree. It deactivates all traps, so whatever that other face-down card is, it won't work."

"I still get to add another two pieces of Exodia to my hand."

"But that's all. I activate Soul Release, removing Sangan and the Witch from play."

"What? Oh, no!"

"Make your move."

"Fine. I play another Graceful Charity card, drawing three more cards. Then, I will set Stone Statue of the Aztecs in defense mode." A huge statue situated itself between Yugi's monsters and the Hunter.

"Back to making walls, Rare Hunter? Well, allow me to break them down. I sacrifice my two monsters to summon the Red-eyes Black Dragon, in attack mode."

"That's the card you won from me in Battle City!"

Joey glared daggers at the Hunter. "You mean the one you took from me!"

"Red-eyes Black Dragon, Inferno Fireball!" The giant black dragon roared, and belched up a huge ball of flame. The statue shattered. "So much for your defenses."

"Hah! You've fallen right into my trap. For my turn, I set a card, and activate Swords of Revealing Light." He grinned. "I have four Exodia card in my hand. And, without being able to play any trap cards, you won't be able to prevent me from assembling all five, and defeating you for good!"

_He's right. That Royal Decree helps him as much as it does me. And, with it in play, I can't play Lightforce Sword, to keep one of his Exodia cards out of play. I can't use anything that can prevent him from drawing, or anything light that._

"For this turn, I play the Big Eye face-down. Next turn, when I flip it, I will be able to rearrange the top five cards on my deck, and if the final piece of Exodia is there, you will be finished!"

_There's nothing I can do! No card in my deck can stand up to Exodia. With that Swords of Light card on the field, I can't even attack!_

_We're through.

* * *

_

Deep in the shadows of his inner sanctum, a man laughed. It was a deep, booming laugh, filled with hatred and dripping with malice. In his hand was a long, golden rod. One end was a sharp point, and the other was a round ball, with small wings on the sides. On the ball at the end was a hieroglyphic shaped like an eye.

And the eye was glowing.

"Good work, my mind-slave," he said, in his scratchy voice. "Soon, I will own Yugi Muto's Millennium Puzzle, and I shall then take the others from the Guardians. The power to rule the world shall soon be mine!"

"Master?" one of the simpletons asked from the doorway. Light spilled in, revealing a boy, with white hair and pale skin, dressed in a robe of violet. The simpleton was a tall, muscular man, wearing a suit. "Shall we begin the preparations?"

"Yes. I want invitations sent to all of the major duelists from both Duelist Kingdom and Battle City. Also, I want the Rare Hunters. Their skills will work perfectly for Duelist Eliminators."

"Anything else, master?"

"I want you to get me the phone number of Seto Kaiba. Soon, I will tell him of his little brother's plight, and that, if he wants him back, he'll enter my tournament."

"Yes, master, at once."

"Be gone." The simpleton left. "Soon, all of my plans will cone together, and I will take all that I deserve!"

**TO BE CONTINUED . . .**


	3. Duel for the Souls 3: Return of the Rare...

**Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**Duel for the Souls IN THE BEGINNING III: Rare Hunter's Revenge**

**Last Time:**

Kaiba decides to find his brother himself, leaving the bureaucratic police to go about doing their own business.

Yugi and his friends visit Duke Devlin, and Joey obtains a new Red-eyes Black Dragon card, a Summoned Skull, and the complete Spirit Message set. On the way home, they are ambushed by a former Rare Hunter, who challenges Yugi for the Millennium Puzzle. But, this is the same Rare Hunter that beat Joey right before Battle City, and his new Exodia deck seems unstoppable . . .

* * *

"You are through, Yugi. So long as you have that Royal Decree card on the field, neither of us can play trap cards. But I don't need traps, because, in two turns, I shall draw the final piece of Exodia!" 

_He's right_, Yugi thought. _We really screwed up._

_No we didn't_, Yami, the spirit that resided inside the Millennium Puzzle, protested. _We still have a card that can destroy the Royal Decree. This isn't over yet._

Yugi reached for his deck on the duel disk. _Come on, deck! Don't let me down!_

"I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards." _Lightforce Sword and Mystical Space Typhoon! These cards can do it!_

"What did you get? Not that it matters. There's no way you can win now!"

"That's what you think. I'll set these two cards face-down, and switch my Red-eyes to defense mode."

"This duel is just about over," the Rare Hunter said. "I flip the Big Eye, and rearrange the top five cards on my deck—"

"Not so fast. I activate Lightforce Sword!"

"Your own Royal Decree card will negate it!" The Rare Hunter said.

"Not yet it won't, because I'm creating a chain. I activate a quick-play magic card, called Mystical Space Typhoon. It destroys Royal Decree before it negates my other trap card. Meaning I can still slash one of your cards out of the game for four whole turns." The dagger rocketed at the Hunter, spearing his hand, and appearing four feet behind him. Caught on the blade was a giant golden head with the traditional headdress of a pharaoh.

"Oh, no!" he cried. "You've hit Exodia's head!"

"Way to go, Yugi!" his friend called from behind him.

"Now, make your move."

"I will. I use Big Eye to rearrange my cards, so that, next turn, I'll have four pieces of Exodia. When your Lightforce Sword wears off, you'll be defeated."

"That's what you think. I set one card face-down, and summon Zombyra the Dark in attack mode."

"My turn I'll draw my—"

"Before you draw, I'll activate another trap card, Time Seal. It prevents you from drawing for one whole turn." The Rare Hunter growled. "And, for my turn, I summon another monster, Gamma the Magnet Warrior." Yugi smiled. "At the end of my turn, your Swords will wear off, and I'll be free to attack."

"Well, then. For my turn, I draw the fourth piece of Exodia. And at the end of my next turn, I'll have the fifth one back in my hand, and you'll be through. "

"I still have one more turn, then."

"Now, for this turn, I play Nightmare's Steelcage, to keep you from attacking for another two turns." Thick iron bars surrounded Yugi and his monsters, so that he couldn't attack, but neither could the Rare Hunter.

"I activate Dust Tornado, and obliterate your Steelcage." A strong wind appeared, shattering the iron bars.

"So what? You can't beat me, not in just one turn."

_He's right. Destroying that Royal Decree didn't do anything for me. There's no way I can beat his Exodia now. I'm through.

* * *

_

"That's right, little Yugi. There is no way to stop a deck that I reinforced. You may have defeated me at Battle City, as well as this foolish Rare Hunter, but now, you don't stand a chance. This deck is the most dangerous one you've ever faced, and you are out of tricks to play.

"If you _do_ manage to defeat the unstoppable Exodia, then I will have to put even stronger opponents in your path. But, I shall claim the Millennium Puzzle from you, because it is my destiny.

"Yami may have defeated me five thousand years ago, and locked me inside the Millennium Ring, but I have the will and power to face him now, and destroy him. And you, too, little Yugi."

The figure that spoke was shrouded in shadows, but his form was that of a teenager, tall and thin. He spoke in a malicious voice, unnaturally deep for his age. That was, if it was the body's age you were going by. It was very fitting for a spirit five thousand years of age.

The spirit was of an ancient Egyptian high priest named Seto. He had led a revolution against Pharaoh Yami, using the powerful magic of the Shadow Realm against his sorcerers. His followers had been defeated, and banished to the Shadow Realm. But, he came forward, and destroyed all but the pharaoh with the power of the Blue-eyes White Dragon. Somehow, though, he was defeated, and both his soul and the pharaoh's were sealed in Millennium Items.

Now, here he was, five millennia later, a parasite living off of others. It was sickeningly horrible, trapped inside another's body. It was also infuriating. But, if it was the only way to gain the powers of the Shadow Games of old, then it was worth it.

But he still needed to win the other four Millennium Items. He was after the Millennium Puzzle already, and knew that Ishizu Ishtar held the Millennium Necklace once again—she had given it to Yugi after losing to Kaiba in the Battle City finals.

The other two, he had been told, belonged to an Egyptian mystic named Shadi, who also had a relationship to the Ishtar family. Soon, he would lure them to Domino—Shadi had investigated Duelist Isle after the Spirit took the Millennium Eye from Maximillion Pegasus. It would be easy to take the Millennium Items from those fools, especially after he harnessed the might of the Millennium Puzzle.

"Now, soon, it will be mine. And, with Yugi out of the way, I'll finally be able to claim the last of the Millennium Items!"

_But, for now,_ he thought, _I'll have to take care of Yugi, and make sure he doesn't escape my trap._

_Because, at the end of this turn, I will have the final piece of Exodia back in my hand, and Yugi will be finished—forever!

* * *

_

_Yugi! There is still a way to destroy Exodia. Think! At Battle City, you destroyed all three sets of Exodia cards, meaning he couldn't have that many cards in his deck. And, he's increased the number of strategic cards in his deck, making less room for Exodia. _

Yugi understood what Yami was hinting at. _Meaning that, if I destroyed his hand, or forced him to play one of them, he wouldn't be able to assemble it again!_

_Exactly._

"Tell me, Rare Hunter, how many sets of Exodia do you have in your deck?"

"Why do you care?" he snapped.

"Because, I want to know how much I'm getting for this complete waste of my time." _That_ would get him mad.

"I may only have one set of Exodia cards, but I can reuse them so that, even if destroyed, they'll come back to haunt you."

"That's all I wanted to know before I draw," Yugi replied coolly.

"What are you planning, Yugi?" Joey Wheeler asked. He came close and leaned his ear close to Yugi.

"Remember when Marik was controlling you?" he whispered.

"Yeah," Joey replied quietly.

"Remember how I first got you to see the Red-eyes card?"

"Oh! I see what you're doing. Did you draw the card?"

"Yes."

"Then beat him!" He stepped back to join Tristan Taylor and Tea Gardner.

Yugi turned back to his robed opponent. "I just drew the one card that can defeat Exodia once and for all. I play Exchange!"

"What is that?"

"A rare and powerful magic card, which lets each player take one card from their opponent's hand for the remainder of the duel. So, pick any one you want." Yugi held up the four cards in his hand—Oppressed People, Restructor Revolution, Kuriboh, and Horn Imp. The Rare Hunter took Restructor Revolution—a card that dealt 200 points of damage for each card in the target's hand.

Yugi looked at the Rare Hunter's hand, which had four pieces of Exodia and a strange magic card he didn't recognize. It had Exodia's head, with lightning linking it to five gravestones. "I'll take Exodia's right arm," Yugi said.

"So you figured out a new way to destroy Exodia, Yugi," the Rare Hunter said. But there was something different about his tone. Yugi, with Yami's guidance, looked at the man's forehead. The Eye of Anubis, the Millennium Symbol, was glowing. He was once again being controlled by the Millennium Rod. "Good for you. But it will do you no good."

"You'd be surprised."

"For my turn, I set one card face-down, and activate your Restructor Revolution magic card, dealing eight hundred points of direct damage to your life points!"

"Not if I turn your attack back on you!"

"How?"

"With this trap card: Mystical Refpanel!" An angelic ghost got in the way of the attack, holding up a mirror. The attack was sent back at the Rare Hunter. "Since you have only the three pieces of Exodia in your hand, you only take 600 points of damage. But that brings you down to 2400 life points."

"You will pay for that, Yugi!"

"Will I? Or is this just the beginning—of your defeat?"

"I will destroy you!"

"That's what you think. Now, Red-eyes Black Dragon, destroy Big Eye! Inferno Fireball!" The black dragon blasted Yugi's ears with another ferocious roar, and the many-eyed fiend was blown apart. "I'll also set one monster card face-down."

"For my turn, play The Dark Door, limiting each of us to one attack per turn. Then, I'll set Exodia's head, in defense mode."

"I'll sacrifice Exodia's right arm and Zombyra the Dark to summon the Dark Magician, in attack mode. Red-eyes Black Dragon, attack!"

"I set another card in defense mode, and play Monster Reborn, reviving your Big Shield to defend my life points."

"Dark Magician, Dark Magic attack!" The purple-armored mage lifted his blue scepter, and aimed it at the hologram of the face down card. A beam of dark energy was released from the crystal sphere at the top of the staff, obliterating another piece of Exodia.

"My turn. I play Tribute to the Doomed, sacrificing Exodia's left leg to destroy your Dark Magician. I also set a card in defense mode."

"Fine, then. I summon Neo the Magic Swordsman in attack mode. Destroy that monster, with your Magic Blade Slash!" The magician warrior leapt into the air, and brought the elegant blade crashing down on the monster. It was the final piece of Exodia.

"Ha! You've fallen right into the trap I've carefully set. I was only waiting for you to destroy Exodia, because now the real fun begins. I activate the magic card I set several turns ago: Contract with Exodia."

"What is that?"

"It is the beginning of your end, Yugi. Contract with Exodia can only be activated if all five pieces of Exodia are in the graveyard. You sacrificed the piece you took, and I sacrificed one. Then, you destroyed the other three."

"So what does this so-called 'Contract' do?"

"It allows me to summon a creature more powerful than Exodia itself. Well, that's not true, because it _is_ Exodia. Exodia Necross, that is." The Rare Hunter began to laugh. "And it is unstoppable!"

The card rose, and five headstones aligned themselves in front of the Rare Hunter. Each one had a symbol of a piece of Exodia behind them. Lightning shot from each stone, in five different colors—red, yellow, blue, green, and violet—meeting twenty feet in the air. The five colors twinned together, and a polyhedron appeared. From each section of the five-armed star came a piece of Exodia, just as if all five pieces had been assembled. But, unlike the normal golden creature that was Exodia, each one was rotten and blackened. Exodia's face was a skull.

"What do you mean?"

"It can't be attacked, nor can it be destroyed by magic or trap cards. And, each turn, it gains 500 more attack points!"

_Oh, no! I can't stop that thing! It's invincible!

* * *

_

Seto Kaiba was in his workstation, in the main KaibaCorp building. His room was just down the hall, as was . . . Mokuba's.

Mokuba had been kidnapped in the dead of night, just a dozen hours ago or so. Nobody had come to Kaiba with a ransom, no one had called. The only people who had even noticed it were the KaibaCorp Board of Directors and the police—whom Kaiba had chased away to get rid of their bureaucratic nonsense.

Now, he had to find and save his brother. On his own.

Kaiba had a plan, though—he always did. He knew that, whoever was behind this, was an expert at Duel Monsters. But Kaiba was the one who revolutionized the game designed by Maximillion Pegasus. He was the designer of the Duelist Arenas that had been used at Duelist Kingdom and major championships around the world. The portable duel disk was his creation, both versions. He was also the one who imagined the Virtual Reality World game. He would conquer.

Because Mokuba was the only person in the world that mattered. Kaiba risked his life to save Mokuba from Maximillion Pegasus two years ago. During his Battle City tournament last year, he'd been forced to team up with Yugi Muto—his enemy—to rescue Mokuba from the Rare Hunters. Each time, he came through victorious, and he would now.

Since this person was obviously a player of Duel Monsters—the police had found a card during their investigation, a Winged Minion—that meant he would challenge Kaiba for something. So, Kaiba could do what he did to beat Yugi—play on his opponent's humanity.

Since Kaiba was the creator of the Duel Disk, he could easily modify his personal one. He installed a small needle into the arm brace, so, after activation, if his life points ever hit 0, it would inject whatever the needle contained into his arm. Such as, say, a lethal toxin.

Kaiba had just gotten the needle injector installed and was about to wire the activation button in when the phone rang. Hoping it was from the kidnapper, he leapt up and ran into his office. The phone was on his desk, which was situated by the large floor-to-ceiling window. There was a couch a few feet away, with the TV that Mokuba had spent countless hours watching while Kaiba worked.

The number on the Caller ID display was "unlisted," and it said the caller was a phone booth. An anonymous caller, then. Very likely that it was the kidnapper.

"Who is this?" he demanded as soon as the cordless phone was to his ear. "If you've harmed my brother—"

"Patience, Mr. Kaiba. Your little brother is fine. So long as you comply with my master's wishes."

"Who are you?" he repeated icily.

"You don't need to know my name, or my master's. However, you will get your brother back, when my master is ready."

"What do I have to do?" _So, this is what it's like to be weak_, Kaiba thought. _To answer the demands of others, having your future in the hands of others. How sickening. _

"Enter and win my master's new tournament. If you can beat my master, he will return your brother to you. But, if you don't—" The connection went dead, leaving Kaiba to ponder the mysterious caller's words.

_Enter and win a Duel Monsters tournament? How pathetic. I will win, because there are only two duelists on earth that I know can beat me. Yugi Muto and Pegasus. But Yugi is too soft for this, and Pegasus has practically dropped off the face of the planet since Duelist Kingdom. _

_I'll win. Nobody will get between me and my little brother.

* * *

_

"Is it done yet?" the man shrouded in shadows asked one of his followers.

"Yes."

"So, do you believe that Kaiba will accept?"

"Of course. I could tell by the way he was talking that he is desperate. He is not as strong as he pretends to be."

"Thank you, Ken. Take the rest of the day off. Tomorrow, though, I want those invitations in the mail. And an announcement, to attract even more willing fools."

"Anything else?"

"Yes. Send an anonymous letter to both Maximillion Pegasus and Marik Ishtar. About these." The man hefted his rod, and a small golden sphere similar to the top of the rod.

"At once, master. Thank you."

"You have done well, Ken. Now, leave." The simpleton did. "Now, the next stage of my plan is in motion. Yugi will win this duel—his destroying of Exodia proves it. He'll find a way.

"But, after he does, he will be forced to enter my tournament, and then, it will all be over. He will soon face the enemies of his past, one after the next, until he is defeated.

"And, once he is, I will claim his Millennium Puzzle as my own!"

* * *

_We can't give up hope_, Yugi thought. _There has to be a way to stop this. If monsters, magic, and traps can't work _directly_ on it, then maybe they'll work _indirectly. 

Yugi could feel Yami's mental nod of agreement. _But you've already used Soul Release. The only way to stop this creature would be to remove a piece of Exodia from play. There is no card in your deck tat can do that now. _

_You're right. We've screwed up, big time. If I'd been more careful—_

_You did what you had to do when you had to do it. There is still one card in this deck that can help us, if you draw it. _

_Which one?_

_Remember when I faced the spirit of Bakura's Ring, back in Duelist Kingdom?_

_Right. When my friends and I were all trapped inside Duel Monsters._

_Correct. Bakura wanted us to create a deck out of our favorite cards, and we did. Your Dark Magician, Joey's Flame Swordsman, Tristan's Cyber Commander, and Tea's—_

_Magician of Faith! Tea gave me one of those to keep, right after Battle City! You know, when she thought her family was moving away. _

_Precisely. It is still in your deck. _

_Oh! If I use it to bring back Soul Release, we can destroy Exodia Necross!_

_Precisely. But, for now, we have to play defensively. _

_Right, partner!_

"For my turn, I play Swords of Revealing Light, and set one card face-down."

"That's all, Yugi? Well, for my turn, I sacrifice your Big Shield to play one monster face down. And, Exodia Necross goes up 500 points!"

"I switch my Red-eyes to defense mode, and play Kuriboh and one card face-down."

"I flip the Reaper of the Cards, to destroy one of your face-down cards."

"My Mirror Force!" Yugi cried, as the reaper's scythe slashed away the blue barrier.

"And, at the end of my next turn, I'm free to attack!"

"For this turn, I set Alpha the Magnet Warrior, to defend my life points."

"I have nothing to do this turn—except watch my beautiful Exodia grow even stronger!"

"I have no cards to play."

"Now that your Swords are gone, I can attack your Kuriboh and wipe out what's left of your life points!"

"What?

"You left your little hair ball in attack mode!"

"Oh, no! He's right!"

"And, after three turns, my Exodia Necross has an attack power of 3300. You have only 2100 life points left, and Kuriboh's attack power is only 300. Meaning you'd be 900 points in the hole!"

"So what?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think your attack will even reach me?"

"You can't stop it! Exodia Necross, Obliterate him!"

"Perhaps I can. I'll show you, when I activate Multiply!" The Kuriboh began to glow, and then it divided into two, then four. The rotting Exodia roared, and a huge ball of energy shot from its arms. It hit two of the Kuriboh, and they detonated. But, much to the Rare Hunter's amazement, four more replaced it.

"What happened?"

"You see, Multiply creates an ever-expanding wall of Kuriboh. For each you destroy, two more take its place. And, they're all in defense mode." Yugi smiled triumphantly. "You may have created the ultimate Exodia-based offensive monster, but I have the ultimate defense: an ever-expanding wall of furry defenders." Yugi had given that same line to Kaiba, just before allowing Kaiba to destroy him.

"It's no matter. I have nothing else to do this turn."

"Good. I switch my Red-eyes Black Dragon to attack mode, and attack Reaper of the Cards." As the creature vanished in a halo of fire, Yugi grinned. "Since it was also in attack mode, you lose 1070 life points, bringing you down to 1330."

"It won't matter. In a few turns, you will be destroyed."

"That's what you think."

"It's true, because your Red-eyes is vulnerable to an attack now, and Exodia Necross has 3800 attack points—enough to bring your life point count down to 700. And, as soon as I manage to switch your Kuriboh to attack mode, you'll be through."

"Then you intend to attack my dragon?"

"Yes, of course. You're through!"

"Not if I activate this trap card, called Spellbinding Circle. It encases your monster in a magic ring, so that it can't attack. My Red-eyes Black Dragon is safe from harm."

"Alright, then. Have it your way."

"I will. Now, I play Polymerization, fusing Red-eyes Black Dragon and Summoned Skull, forming Black Skull Dragon. By equipping it with United We Stand, I raise its attack and defense scores by 5600 attack points. Meaning that it has 8800 attack points. Black Skull Dragon, Molten Fireball Attack!"

"Did you forget? My monster is invulnerable to attack!" Another ball of energy arose, and the molten trails of rock splattered against it.

"Oh, no!"

"And, my monster gains 500 attack points. Now, for this turn I play a pair of magic cards. The first is Remove Trap, destroying your Spellbinding Circle. The other is De-spell, to remove your United card. That makes your Black Skull 1100 points weaker than my Exodia!" Yugi grunted as the mighty dragon was destroyed, but said nothing.

"This duel is almost over. Each turn, my monster gains more and more power. You can't afford to play anything in attack mode now. You only have 1000 life points left!"  
"Anything else?" Yugi groaned.

"Yes. I'll set two cards. That's all."

"Then for my turn . . ." Yugi looked at his hand. _Magic Cylinder, Magician of Faith, Curse of Dragon, and Dark Magician Girl. That gives me an idea! _"I'll set one card face-down, and a monster in defense."

"I'll activate Shadow of Eyes, to force your monster into attack mode."

"My Magician of Faith!"

"Now you won't be able to revive your Soul Release to destroy my Exodia Necross. And, I'll activate another trap card that will seal your fate: Leveling Tidalwave By sacrificing 100 life points, I can destroy all monsters on the field with one level star. Meaning that all of your Kuriboh and that Magician are all gone!" There was a roaring ocean wave, and, when it receded, all of Yugi's monsters were gone.

"You have nothing left to protect your life points from a final attack by my ultimate monster!" The Rare Hunter, still under the mind-control of his hidden master, laughed. "Now, Exodia Necross, destroy Yugi Muto once and for all!"

"Not so fast. You destroyed my monsters; you didn't touch my traps. And now this duel _is_ over—for you! I activate Magic Cylinder, reflecting your attack back at you!"

"And I will absorb your hit by using Negate Attack. Your turn."

_I need a card now that will win this. I need _something_ to take out his Exodia cards. If I don't, then it's all over. _

_Heart of the Cards . . ._

Yugi drew, and placed the card in his hand. _Monster Reborn! I can use it to revive one piece of Exodia and destroy Necross._ "This is over, Rare Hunter. I play Monster Reborn!"

"No monster in your graveyard can destroy my Exodia Necross!"

"Who said I'd revive one of my cards? No, I revive Exodia's Head!"

"What Oh—oh, no!" The piece of Exodia appeared in front of Yugi, glaring at its rotten counterpart. Then, the center gravestone crumbled, and lightning leapt from the other four. Exodia Necross shattered in a brilliant flash of light.

"And, I'll sacrifice your piece of Exodia to summon Curse of Dragon! Finish this duel!" The skeletal dragon roared, and fired a stream of flame from its mouth. The Rare Hunter fell to his knees.

Yugi panted, as Yami's spirit fled his body. It was over. He'd won.

"Take these Exodia cards—including Necross." The Rare Hunter tossed the cards to Yugi's feet. "And, here's the other part of your prize!" There was a bright light, and Yugi was blinded. Moments later, he turned to his friends, and saw that Tristan and Tea were slumped over. Dead.

"No, they're not dead," the Rare Hunter said, as if reading his thoughts. "But their souls are now in my possession. If you want them back, you'll have to enter and win the Battle City II tournament. Otherwise, well, they'll remain my prisoners. Forever!" The Rare Hunter's controller laughed viciously, and then he went completely limp. He slumped over, and Yugi knew he would not speak for many hours at least.

"I—I can't believe it!" Joey stammered. "Tristan? Tea? Come on, talk to me!"

Yugi wasn't paying attention. He was conversing with Yami, trying to hide his shock.

_So it looks like we've been forced into this again_, Yami thought.

_Yes. But how can we beat this madman? He has two Millennium Items—maybe even more! How will we beat him?_

_The same way we've overcome all of our challenges in the past—trust in our deck and faith in ourselves. We will be dueling without our friends now, but that doesn't matter. We _will_ save them, because there is no other option. _

_I hope you're right._

He felt Yami sigh. _So do I, Yugi. So do I.

* * *

_

"Now that my plans are in motion, it is time to start my preparations for Yugi's final duel. He thinks that, with the pharaoh at his side, he will win. But, I have more power than he ever will. Both Yugi and his Puzzle will be defenseless against me!"

**TO BE CONTINUED . . .**

**HalHorn's Created Card: **

LEVELING TIDALWAVE

Trap Card - Normal

When you activate this card, pay Life Points in increments of 100.For each 100 Life Points paid for this effect, destroy all face-up Effect Monster Cards of the same Level.

Played by: Seeker (Rare Hunter)


	4. Duel for the Souls 4: Tournament Start

**Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**Duel for the Souls RAPTOR'S RAGE I: **

**Tournament's Start**

**Last Time:**

Yugi defeated the Rare Hunter's Exodia set, but then was brought to the brink of destruction by Exodia Necrosis. He managed to block several attacks with his Kuriboh/Multiply combo, but was almost defeated when all of his monsters were destroyed.

Then, by reviving Exodia the Forbidden One, he activated Necrosis' special ability, causing it to self-destruct. With a final attack by Curse of Dragon, he won.

Then, the Rare Hunter's master used the power of the Millennium Eye to steal the souls of Tristan and Tea, telling Yugi that, to save them, he has to win Battle City II. Only this tournament will be far more devastating than anything he has ever faced . . .

* * *

Joey Wheeler sat in his sister's hospital room, where she lay on the bed sleeping. It seemed to him that this was how he usually saw her. Last year was the first time he'd seen her in person since their parents' divorce, and it had been her, in Domino City Hospital, just before her eye operation.

Serenity had always had trouble seeing, but was only diagnosed with a chance of going blind about three years ago. A year later, he learned that she needed an operation immediately. He entered the Duelist Kingdom tournament to win the three million dollars it would take to pay for that operation. He came in second place, but the winner, his best friend Yugi Muto, gave him the prize money.

It took almost a year to do it, but, finally, Serenity was healed. She first used her repaired eyes to save Joey's life. Then, she watched as Joey tried to defeat the evil Marik Ishtar during the Battle City finals. They hadn't seen each other often since then, but more than they had after the divorce.

But now, here she was again, in a hospital room. It started when she had a vision blackout, months ago. Then, they came more frequently, and for longer periods of time. Now, she could barely see at all.

Joey came to the hospital often—usually when he knew his mother wasn't going to be around. In the past two weeks, he'd tried to avoid his friend Yugi, who was also often at the hospital, but for another reason.

Two weeks ago, after Serenity had been admitted into the hospital, a Rare Hunter, one of the notorious card thieves that had been employed by Marik Ishtar, had ambushed Joey and his friends. He challenged Yugi to a duel, for very high stakes.

Yugi had defeated this Rare Hunter before; to win the Red-eyes Black Dragon card he'd taken from Joey days earlier. That time, it had been hard, but not too hard. This time, it was a whole new game.

The Rare Hunter had once owned three complete sets of Exodia cards; that was how he was able to defeat Joey. This time, he had only one, but he also had many support cards that could be recycled to get the five pieces of Exodia faster. And, when Yugi managed to defeat Exodia and destroy all its pieces, the Rare Hunter played an even more powerful card: Exodia Necrosis. Yugi defeated it by reviving a piece of Exodia from the graveyard. With Exodia Necrosis out of the way, it took only one attack to win.

Yugi was given the Exodia cards as a prize, but the other "prize" was the reason he spent so much time in the hospital. The Rare Hunter's master was the owner of magical Egyptian totems with great power. The mysterious person used the magic of one of these totems—the Millennium Rod—to control the thoughts and actions of the Rare Hunter. He used another—the Millennium Eye—to capture the souls of two of Joey's friends.

Over the past two weeks, Yugi had rarely left the hospital room that they were in. The official records claimed that they were in a coma—what self-respecting doctor would believe that _magic_ had taken the very _soul_ out of his patients? As usual, the scientific circles believed that everything had a natural cause; they always denied the mystic.

Joey had been avoiding Yugi not out of grief—be it his or respect for that of his friend's. No, Joey tried to keep away from Yugi because of guilt. Truth be told, he _didn't_ feel that much grief for his friends. He was much more worried about his sister's well being. He loved his friends, but his sister meant the world to him.

He hadn't tried to express this feeling to Yugi. There was no way he could, considering how Yugi's friends _were_ his family. He could do nothing but help them in a time of crisis. His only living relative was his grandfather, who owned a small game store on the opposite side of town. Then again, Yugi probably already figured it out.

Joey was trying to figure out what was wrong with him when a small, wide shadow covered the lower half of his sitting body. He looked up, reverie broken, into the aged face of Solomon Muto, Yugi's grandfather.

Solomon tapped his chin with one finger. "What have we here?" he asked in his deep, throaty voice.

"A big brother watching over his sister?" Joey ventured.

Solomon shook his spiky-haired head, causing his long, jagged bangs to sway. "I see a little Turk who doesn't know what he's doing to his best friend, and doesn't care about the trouble of his other friends."

"Huh?"

"I know what it feels like to have my soul trapped in the Shadow Realm. Remember: that's why Yugi decided to enter the Duelist Kingdom tournament. And, without him, you would never have made it."

"What is it, exactly, that you want me to do?"

"Visit Yug; talk to him. He needs all the support he can get. And an old man isn't much support, mind you. I've tried talking to him already. Maybe you should."

"I'll think about it," Joey murmured as Mr. Muto walked away. _What could _I_ talk to Yugi about_? He asked himself. _He knows that I'm trying to save my sister. He didn't need my help in Duelist Kingdom; he doesn't need it now. If I have the chance to save Tristan and Tea, without costing me my sister's future, then I'll do it. But nothing will distract me from my goal. Sorry, Yugi; Tristan; Tea. My sister comes first._

Joey looked at the clock. It was almost midnight. Well, if Yugi was still here, Joey might as well go talk to him. So, he lifted himself out of his chair with a groan unbecoming of an athletic-looking high school junior. He stretched, and walked, silently, out of the room, closing the door softly behind him. He looked around, and caught the arm of a passing nurse.

"Excuse me, miss, but where do you keep coma patients?"

"Down the hall, on the left." She hurried away, after pointing Joey in the right direction. Joey swaggered over to the coma center, and looked in each of the large glass windows. In one room, there were two beds spaced three feet apart. In one was a tall, dark-haired girl, and the other a brown-haired boy, both teenagers. Both had their eyes open, but neither seemed to see anything. Slumped in a chair between the two beds was another teenager, a short boy with spiky blond-and-red hair.

Joey paused at the door, wondering why he was doing this. Because, deep down, he felt guilty about his attitude. Oh, well, standing out here wasn't going to get anything done. Joey took a deep breath, and opened the door. Yugi instantly stood up, turning around. His round face was streaked with two weeks of tears, and his large eyes were red and swollen.

"Joey?" he asked tentatively, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Joey tried to shake off his nervousness with a joke. "I was in the neighborhood, so . . ." His voice trailed off. False bravado was not the way to go about this. He had to be honest about his feelings.

"What is it, Joey?" Yugi asked.

"Well, Yugi, I just wanted to make it clear, so there are no misconceptions, y'know—?"

"Just say it, Joey."

"I'm sorry, Yugi, about Tristan and Tea. I'll help them if I can."

Yugi shook his head, then stared deep into Joey's eyes, searching. "Continue."

"But I won't let them take precedence over my sister. Serenity comes first."

Yugi looked away, out the window in the wall. From this height, all of Domino City was visible, including the KaibaCorp tower. "Then don't stand in my way."

Joey had never heard something like that come from Yugi's mouth. "What?"

"I said, Joey, that you can try your best to save your sister, but stay out of my way." Joey had to turn away, because of a bright light coming from in front of Yugi; no, coming from the triangular totem hanging on a chain around his friend's neck. Joey squinted, and saw that Yugi—no, Yami, the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle—was staring at him. His eyes blazed in blinding white fury, and the Eye of Anubis burned on his forehead. "Do not try to stop me. Ever."

Joey turned and fled, not turning back.

* * *

A man shrouded in darkness slept. But there was something . . . not right. With a start, he woke up, gasping. But he felt the cool gold of the Millennium Rod in his hand, and instantly calmed. All was well.

_Then what was it that awoke me?_

He used the power of the Millennium Ring to read his soul. It replayed his subconscious memories, and he knew. There was a familiar presence, extremely powerful. It rivaled that of his own.

_Yami!_

Yami was the spirit of an ancient Egyptian ruler. During his reign, he had stopped a revolution led by High Priest Seto. After that, his soul—and that of Priest Seto—was locked inside Millennium Items, with all of the powers of the Shadow Games.

"So, Yami, I sense darkness inside you. Maybe I can exploit that. It will make claiming your vessel, the Millennium Puzzle, so much more gratifying."

But, as he settled back into sleep, the shadow-shrouded man couldn't help but wonder: Could Yami's anger make him too powerful to stop.

* * *

"Brother, come look at this!" called a green-robed bald man. He motioned for his brother, who saw the ear-to-ear smile on his face and came running.

"What could bring you so much bliss?" the orange-robed one asked, as he reached his brother's side.

"It is a letter—concerning a duel monsters tourney."

"To enter it, to where will we take a journey?"

"Domino City."

That took the orange-robed man aback; he didn't even think up a rhyme. "Yugi Muto's home?"

"Indeed." The green-robed man nodded.

"Well, in that case . . ." With a nod, he and his brother started their chant. "Guardians of Thunder, Water, and Wind: Sanga, Suijin, Kazejin begin! Shed us all in your eternal light! Show these fools your unstoppable might!" They both leapt into the air, executing flawless backflips and landing simultaneously in the back of the room. "Gate Guardian!"

"He will take out all their forces!"

"And knock them off their high horses!"

* * *

"Mister Pegasus, a letter has arrived."

Maximillion Pegasus, creator of Duel Monsters, looked up from his wine, cheese, and _Funny Bunny_ comic book. "Yes, Croquet?"

"It is an invitation, to a Duel Monsters tournament." The aging man walked over to where Pegasus sat, and handed him the gold-stamped envelope. He took it, and skimmed over it.

"Now, Croquet, you know I haven't so much as dueled since I lost my Eye—wait, what's this? 'Should you come to face me, in the finals, I will give you a chance to win back the Millennium Eye I took from you two years ago.'" Maximillion closed his eyes and lowered his chin to his chest.

"Mister Pegasus?"

"I think I _will_ enter. Get me a helicopter, and ready my duel disk. I'm going to the town of Domino."

* * *

"Master Marik."

The robed man looked up from his game of solitaire. "Yes, Odion?"

"You have received a letter, claiming to have something to do about the Millennium Rod."

"Odion, you know I've given up on my quest for world domination. I don't even need the Rare Hunters anymore. It's over."

"But this person says he has the Millennium Rod."

The Millennium Rod was one of seven Millennium Items that had been guarded by Marik's family for five thousand years, since the downfall of Priest Seto. The Millennium Puzzle was the only one of the seven that had not been in possession of Marik's family; it had been shattered and hidden away in a sealed tomb. Another, the Millennium Ring, had been stolen years ago. The Key and Scale had been given to the mystic Shadi for safekeeping soon after he gave Maximillion Pegasus the Millennium Eye. Marik's sister Ishizu Ishtar had been given the Necklace. And Marik had stolen the Rod from the pharaoh's tomb.

Last year, at Battle City, he made his move to obtain the powers of Yami. To do so, he needed the spirits of the three Egyptian Gods—which Pegasus had created in card form—and the Rod and Puzzle. He possessed two of the Gods—the Winged Dragon of Ra and Slifer the Sky Dragon—and the Rod. He only needed Obelisk the Tormentor, property of Seto Kaiba, and the Millennium Puzzle, which was owned by Yugi Muto.

In the KaibaCorp Battle City tournament, Yugi won Slifer from one of Marik's mind-controlled slaves. During the finals, he won Obelisk the Tormentor from Kaiba, and then defeated Marik's dark spirit. He then claimed the Winged Dragon, and gave all three to Ishizu.

Early in the finals, Marik had won the Millennium Ring from Bakura Ryou, but, immediately after the destruction of Marik's dark spirit and the end of Battle City, the spirit inside the Ring broke free, returning Bakura's soul from the shadow realm and then returning to his body.

"Bakura, huh? Or, rather, the treacherous spirit of his Millennium Item. What does he want?"

"To give you a chance to earn back the Millennium Rod, and return you on your path to world domination."

"I gave up on that dream, Odion. I am not worthy to hold the powers of Yami."

"But you can get revenge on those who took this dream from you. Yugi Muto and his friends; Seto Kaiba; Bakura; your sister, Ishizu."

Marik considered the idea. "Yes, I would like to pay them back for what they've done to me. I think I will enter this 'Battle City II' you speak of." _And I will soon have revenge on those who stopped me from claiming what is rightfully mine!

* * *

_

Duke Devlin whistled softly to himself as he strolled down through the Domino City Park. He had a Duel Disk on, for no reason other than the feeling of power that came from the deck and set of dice he held within its carrying case. He'd left his store in the hands of his assistant manager, deciding that it was time for a lunch break. He was on his way back, when he heard a call from behind him:

"Is that Duke Devlin, wearing one of my Duel Disks?" the obnoxious voice of Seto Kaiba shouted. "How dare you insult my creation? You're not even a real duelist, just a cheep trickster and dice player."

He didn't even bother to stop or turn around. "What do you want, Kaiba? I'm a very busy man."

"Yes; running a small game store is just so hard—compared to running an international corporation that produces half of all technological innovations in the world."

"Spare me, Kaiba. Just cut to the chase."

"Fine. I want a duel, to test a deck I plan to use in the new tournament. I have a very important investment running on the outcome, so I want to have a flawless strategy."

"Fine. But, next time, cut out the catcalls and stop beating around the bush." Duke did turn around now, slipping his deck to the reader slot on the main body of the duel disk.

The hologram generators shot off on mini-rockets, landing two meters away on both sides. "_Hologram generators activated. Hologram generators at full power,_" reported a deadpan feminine voice. The duel disk's main board snapped into dueling position, and electricity coursed through it. "_All systems ready_." Kaiba's duel disk did the same, and both opponents were ready.

"I'll start this off, by playing X-Head Cannon in attack mode, and set to cards face down. It's your move, Devlin."

"That monster sure is powerful, but I think I have a way to beat it." _Dark Bat and Michizure. That's how I destroyed Joey Wheeler's Sword Hunter. _"I'll set Dark Bat in defense mode, and set another card."

"Now, it's time to power up my X-Head Cannon, by equipping it with the monster card Z-Metal Tank, raising its attack and defense 600 points. But, that ends my turn."

"I have nothing to play."

"My turn, again. First, I'll play Nobleman of Extermination, destroying your face-down trap." Kaiba's eyes widened with shock as he saw what it was. "Michizure. That means I have to remove my own Michizure from play, too."

"Anything else?"

"Yes. I'll also summon Y-Dragon Head, and switch Z-Metal Tank back to a monster card, and activate their special fusing ability, fusing the three monsters to form XYZ-Dragon Cannon!"

"Oh, no!"

"By sacrificing Saggi the Dark Clown from my hand, I can destroy your Dark Bat. Now, XYZ-Caterpillar Dragon Cannon, attack Devlin directly!" The giant cannon dragon fired its four great cannons, striking Duke mercilessly. His life point meter showed the drastic drop—from 4000 to 1200.

"My—move," Duke grunted. "I play De-fusion, breaking your monster into its three main parts. Then, I play Block Attack, Gradius, and Pot of Greed, to draw two cards. Then, I'll set a card, and play 7-Completed and Fairy Meteor Crush."

"That makes Gradius have 1900 attack points, and able to deal damage to my defense mode monsters—like X-Head Cannon!"

"Right. Now, Gradius, attack his defending X-Head Cannon!"

"Negate Attack will absorb your blow, without dealing damage."

"Good. Your move."

"I equip X-Head with Z-Caterpillar, raising his attack power 600 points."

"Do you attack?"

"No, not yet. I'll let you make the first move."

"Good. I activate another 7-Completed card, raising the attack of Gradius another 700 points, to 2600. Destroy Kaiba's monster!"

"It will only destroy the equip card, nothing more."

"Fine. It weakens your monster considerably, and still deals 200 points of damage." The jet's lasers cycled, blasting the treaded machine apart and lowing the cannon-studded robot to the ground.

Kaiba laughed. "It brings the score to 3800-1200. I think this duel is already over."

"I'm not so sure, Kaiba."

"I am. For my turn, I set a card and sacrifice my monsters to summon Blue-eyes White Dragon. White Lightning attack!" The blue-eyed dragon roared, and a burst of sizzling white energy shot from its mouth. The blast caught the giant fighter-jet, and it exploded in a brilliant flash

Duke had no card to prevent that attack—he took the hit, and allowed his life points to drop to 800—3000 behind Kaiba. But he wasn't through yet. "I activate Time Machine, bringing back Gradius the way it was last turn."

"So what?"

"Now my plan is in motion. I'll play Reckless Greed, to draw two cards. And, now I can play Gradius' Option. It copies the stats of any Gradius card on the field. Meaning that, when I play Limiter Removal, and double both of their attack strengths to 5200, it means that this duel is over."

"Yes, but for who? How do you know that my trap cards are not what I need to turn this into the ultimate victory?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you attack, how do you know won't turn this on you, and finish you off?"

"We'll see. Attack!"

"I play Ring of Destruction, targeting your Gradius!"

"But that will destroy both of our life points!"

"Not if I also activate Ring of Defense, blocking the damage done to me but keeping it aimed at you." A ring encircled the jet plane, and it detonated. A giant fan materialized before Kaiba. With its four broad fins spinning rapidly, it protected Kaiba from the blast; there was no such barrier to protect Duke. He collapsed to one knee.

"I think that this deck will do perfectly," Kaiba said, as he collected his cards and walked away.

Duke couldn't talk. How had Kaiba defeated him so easily? How did he do it? Duke shook his head to clear it. He wouldn't collapse. It was one loss, against the former Duel Monsters World Champion. That wasn't so bad.

But Duke would get even. He'd enter this new tournament, and defeat Kaiba. He'd win easily, if he prepared his deck for it. There was no way he'd lose a second time.

_Besides_, he thought to himself, _there's no way he'd beat me at my game. I created DungeonDice Monsters, so Kaiba wouldn't stand a chance.

* * *

_

**ONE WEEK LATER:

* * *

**

"Let the duels begin!" the suited official said. Even in the bright of daylight, the fireworks were visible—and loud. Yugi Muto had to cover his ears during the finale, or risk having some ear damage.

He stood alone from the other duelists, since Joey hadn't spoken to him since the hospital. What Yami did had really worried Yugi. When he asked Yami about it, the spirit had only said that he felt a great evil in Domino, and it had been clouding his thinking ever since the duel against the Rare Hunter. He knew that it was somewhere in Domino, and knew that he would have to face it.

He also told Yugi that he wasn't sure how reliable he would be until the evil was gone. It was a power from the Shadow Realm, as Yami was. And it was powerful and filled with hate. That much hatred, of the same type of magic as Yami, was corrupting him.

Yugi couldn't worry about it now, though. He had friends to rescue. He knew Yami would be reliable, because he always had been. It wouldn't be any different now. Yugi had a tournament to win, and Yami would help.

His reverie was interrupted when a tall woman stepped in front of him. "Yugi Muto? Are you _ever_ going to get any taller?"

"Hey, Mai," Yugi said, looking up into the smiling face of Mai Valentine. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"What, and miss the greatest Duel Monsters event of the year? Of course I'm here!" She looked around nervously. "Where's Joey?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him much since he decided to enter this thing." _Or, rather, since _my_ decision. _

"He'll show up soon, I bet."

"I hope so. We haven't exactly been talking much lately, though."

"Why not?"

"Well, did you know that his sister is having sight problems again?"

"What? No, I hadn't."

"Yeah, he's been spending a lot of time at the hospital, watching over her."

"What about Tristan and Tea? What happened to them? You know, they almost never leave your side."

"They're in the hospital, in comas."

"What!?"

"Remember Maximillion Pegasus?" Yugi asked, looking off in the distance. He could see Seto Kaiba, challenging his first victim—by the looks of things, it was Espa Roba, or one of his brothers.

"Yeah; who could forget?"

"His Millennium Eye gave him the power to take the souls of others and put them into cards. Someone did that to Tristan and Tea." He explained about the duel against the Rare Hunter. "Whoever did it wants to duel me in this tournament, and I won't disappoint him."

"Wow. That's a lot of pressure, to do all that alone."

"Weren't you the one who, at the Battle City finals, turned your back on our support?" Indeed she had, and it had cost her a brief visit to the Shadow Realm.

"I was upset about, well, Joey's dream."

"I'm sorry; I'm giving you a hard time about nothing. Besides, I know that I have you backing me up—and Tristan and Tea would, too, if they were here. And there's Yami" he finished, lifting the Millennium Puzzle by its chain.

"Well, there certainly are a lot of familiar faces here," Mai commented, scanning the crowd. "Mako Tsunami . . . Weevil Underwood . . . Espa Roba—"

"Is that him, facing Kaiba?"

"No—that's the oldest of his little brothers. I hear he's become quite the duelist. Espa's over there, facing off against a tall brute."

"And then there's the Paradox Brothers, Panik, and many of the former Rare Hunters. And—wait! Here comes Rex Raptor." Indeed, the gruff dino-duelist was stalking towards them, a giant grin on his face.

"Well, my, my, if it isn't Mai Valentine. You know, I still haven't gotten over what happened at Duelist Kingdom. So, you know what? I'm going to challenge you to a duel. If you lose, I'll get a kiss."

"You mean, like the cruise to Duelist Kingdom? When I won tat stateroom from you?"

That got Rex angry. "You only won because you cheated. I'll stomp you this time, and knock you out of this tournament, too. Since everybody started out with one locator card, it'll be a piece of cake to take you down for good."

"In your dreams, Dino-freak. I'll take you down so fast that you won't know what hit you—one of my Harpy Ladies or an Amazon warrior."

"That's what you think! I'll turn you into dino-chow!"

_This doesn't look good_, Yugi thought, as the two combatants spread out. Yugi stood off to the side, at Mai's side, observing Rex with interest. He might have to face Rex if Mai didn't knock him out of the tournament here. Then again, he'd already faced and defeated Mai, back at Duelist Kingdom. Her skills and cards had been improved since then, but not that much; She still stuck to traditional dueling styles.

"It's so sad that this tournament is going to end for you after you've built up such a hormone-based high," Mai sneered.

"I'll laugh as I watch you go back on a plane to your home! You don't stand a chance against my new and improved Dino-deck!"

* * *

"So, it has begun," the shrouded man said. "And already many of my targets have arrived. But, I think I know who I ant my loyal Eliminators to concentrate on now." He turned on a microphone. "Panik; Arkana: find some other duelists to team up on Joey Wheeler. I want him out of this tournament, as a strike against Yugi Muto."

"Yes, sir," two voices said.

"As for the rest of you: take out any targets of opportunity, but leave Marik, Pegasus, Valentine, and Yugi to me for now."  
A chorus of assents greeted this order, and he shut down the radio hook-up. Soon, all of the pieces of his plan would fall into place. He would have all that was rightfully his, and soon. He would take the Millennium Puzzle from Yugi Muto, and all its power.

"Soon, Yugi, you will be locked away in the Shadow Realm, and your Puzzle will be mine. It is only a matter of time . . ."

**TO BE CONTINUED . . .**

****

**Please Note:** The Spirit of the Ring believes himself to be the spirit of Priest Seto. This is a crucial part of the plot, which will be explained more fully as the series progresses. Hang tight for now.


	5. Duel for the Souls 5: Valentine vs Rapto...

**Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**Duel for the Souls RAPTOR'S RAGE II: **

**Valentine vs. Raptor**

**Last Time:**

Yugi and Joey have both decided to enter the Battle City II tournament. After the beginning ceremony, Yugi meets up with Mai Valentine, who is challenged by Rex Raptor to a duel of dire consequences.

* * *

"So, Mai, if I win, not only do I knock you out of the tournament, but I get a kiss for it!" the gruff dino-duelist Rex Raptor said gloatingly. His brown hair and white forelock were barely visible under his red stocking cap, but the grin on his face was like a beacon.

"That's what you think. _When_ I win, you'll never so much as think of me again," Mai Valentine retorted. She was a tall blonde woman—then again, compared to Yugi Muto, just about anyone was tall.

"We'll see about that. For my first move, I'll summon Twin-Headed King Rex, in attack mode." A giant purple behemoth materialized in front of Rex—like all of the holograms created by the KaibaCorp Technologies, Inc. Duel Disk virtual dueling system, it was extremely lifelike, from the texture of the skin to the smell and personality. It roared, and then settled back on its haunches.

"My move," Mai sighed. "I'll summon Birdface, in defense mode."

"What a weakling monster! It'll be a piece of cake to smash it!"

"I'll also set two cards face-down."

"Good. So, for my turn, I can summon Mad Sword Beast in attack mode. This dinosaur has a very special ability—it still deals direct battle damage to your life points even if the target monster is in defense mode. So, when it attacks, your monster still takes direct damage."

"But Birdface has 1600 points in both attack and defense points—200 more than Mad Sword Beast's attack."

"But what happens when I play two magic cards: Wasteland and Raise Body Heat." Rex smiled broadly. "That raises my dino-destroyer's attack power 500 points!"

"And that means that it's more powerful than my Birdface!"

"That's right. Mad Sword Beast, destroy Birdface!"

Mai grunted, and watched as the life point meter on the top of her duel disk showed the drop from 8000 to 7700. Unlike in previous tournaments, this one was based on the 8000-life point base, with tributes and having some cards take a huge life point sacrifice to activate. Examples of this were the attack cost of a Toon monster and the activation cost of Graverobber.

Also, the prize system of this tournament was very odd. Each duelist, in his invitation or at the registration, was given one clear plastic "locator card" with piece of a map on it. Only when a duelist collected ten other such cards would it activate a special hologram generator, showing the location of the finals.

"Actually, Rex, I was hoping you'd take out my Birdface—it lets me activate its special ability."

"Special ability?"

"You bet, Dino-brain. When Birdface is destroyed by a monster attack, I can special summon a Harpy Lady. But I won't summon just any Harpy Lady. Say hello—to Cyber Harpy!"

"What's a Cyber Harpy?"

"You know of Cyber Shield, the accessory card that covers a Harpy Lady in special armor and boosts her attack and defense by 500 points. Only this Harpy has that armor built in to her. And, when I play Rose Whip, I'll bring her attack up to 2300. Now, Harpy, Rose Whip attack!" The gold-plated avian woman snapped her whip, hitting the rhinoceros-like shelled beast on the horn. In a shower of petals, it shattered, delivering 400 of damage to Raptor.

_So far, so good, Mai_, Yugi Muto thought to himself. _You have a lead right now, and a good monster to defend with. Hopefully you can keep your lead, and beat this guy. Rex won't stand_ _a chance if you believe in your cards._

"Anything else?" Rex groaned.

"I'll set another card face-down."

"Good. For my turn, I'll sacrifice Twin-Headed King Rex for Cyber-tech Alligator, a powerful machine monster of great power. Attack!"

"Activate Mirror Wall trap and Solomon's Lawbook!"

"What?"  
"Mirror Wall blocks your monster's attack and cuts its power in half. And, since it requires a 2000 life point sacrifice to keep in play, Solomon's Lawbook skips the phase to pay those life points, so that it stays in play for another turn, for free."

"But—what about my Cyber-tech Gator?"

"Your mechanized lizard now only has 1250 attack points. So, Cyber Harpy, Rose Whip attack!" Rex fell to one knee as his life points dropped to 6550.

"I play Monster Reborn to revive Twin-headed Rex, then sacrifice it to summon Total Defense Shogun."

"And I play another Solomon's Lawbook."

"What else could go wrong?"

"Why don't we find out during my turn?"

"What do you mean?"

"I summon Amazon Archer!"

"What does she do?"

"You'll find out, after I play Elegant Egotist, to summon another Harpy Lady to the field. And, by sacrificing both of my Harpies, I can launch a direct attack on your life points!"

"What do you mean, direct attack? Oh—oh, no! No!" Rex cried out in pain as the scantily clad huntress fired an arrow right at him. His life points fell to 5350.

"And that's just the beginning," Mai said. "Each time I get two monsters on the field, I'll do it again. Soon, You'll run out of life points!"

"Not before you run out of monsters! It will take ten more monster cards to do that!"

"Not if Amazon Archer is one of the sacrifices. Oh, well, that's just the way I'd do it in a perfect world. But, for now, I'll wait."

"Now _I_ will summon the Dragon who Dwells in the Cave, and play the magic card Shield and Sword, swapping his 1100 attack points for his 2000 defense points. Now, Cave-Dwelling Dragon, attack!" A giant lizard shot out of the cave.

"What about my Mirror Wall?" Mai asked mock-sweetly.

"Oh, no! My monster's attack has been cut in half. I—I'll set a card to end my turn."

"You know, you say that as if it were a bad thing." Mai shrugged. If this is really how you want to go, then I'll have Amazon Archer attack." Pushing a lock of brown hair to the side, the huntress aimed with her bow and released the arrow.

"Hah, you predictable fool! I activate Reverse Trap, so that now my monster has double the attack power. Your Amazon Archer only has 1400 attack points, but Cave-Dwelling Dragon has 4000. You lose 2600 life points, Mai, bringing you down to 5100. I'm back in the lead, and one step closer to having you!"

"Dream on, lame brain. Destroying one monster doesn't do anything for you—especially if she isn't really gone for good. By activating Call of the Haunted, I'll bring back, not Amazon Archer, but Cyber Harpy with Rose Whip."

"Oh, no!"

"But I can't attack yet, since your Reverse Trap wears off at the end of the turn."

"Good. For my move, I'll—wait a second! Did you sacrifice 2000 life points during your standby phase?"

"No. Why?"

"Then Mirror Wall is gone!"  
"Oh, no, he's right!" Mai cried out. "Oh, no! This could cost me the entire duel!"

_Not really, but it will keep Rex off-guard. Mai is bluffing to make him think he's got an advantage over her now._

"Now I play Wall of Illusions in defense mode, equipped with the Ring of Magnetism. I'll also set one card face-down."

"My turn. I summon Harpies Brother!"

"Wow, cool card."

"That's right. Now, Harpies Brother, attack the weakened—wait! I think I'll play this first: Harpie's Feather Duster, to clear away all of those magic and trap cards."

"No! My Ring! My Dark Mirror Force!"

"Now, Cyber Harpy, take out that weakened dragon!" Rex lost 1300 life points, leaving him at 4050.

"My turn. I play Swords of Revealing Light, and summon Kaiser Seahorse!"

"What is that? What does it do?"

"You'll see in a few moments. In the mean time, I'll sacrifice 800 life points to bring back Cyber-Tech Alligator with Premature Burial, and have it attack your Harpies Brother, bringing your life point count down to 4400."

_She's running out of tricks. If she doesn't think of something fast, then she won't last very long. She needs to trust in the Heart of the cards—but, after Battle City's finals, she needs to trust in herself, too. If she doesn't put her _heart_ in this duel, then, soon, she'll crack and end up losing. _

_For good.

* * *

_

"Man, I wonder where everybody went. Five minutes ago, there were a hundred duelists here. Now, there aren't any," Joey Wheeler complained to nobody in particular. He continued on his journey, scanning the crowds for people wearing Duel Disks. "I wonder who my first opponent will be?"

Then he saw a large crowd, gathered in a tight circle. He could see flashes of holograms and Duel Monsters over the people's heads, but not much. One looked like a Harpy of some sort, and the other was a giant winged machine, with some reptilian features.

It was a duel!

Joey rushed over there, pushing through the crowd. "Excuse me! Pardon me! Duelist coming through!" He reached the center, and looked around. On one side was Rex Raptor with a Cyber-Tech Alligator, and on the other—Joey's heart skipped a beat—Mai Valentine with a super-powered Harpy Lady. Standing behind Mai, sizing up Raptor's strategy, was Yugi.

_Ah, man, I was hoping to stay away from him for a while before getting thrown into this. Oh, well, I'll sit back and watch the duel.

* * *

_

"Master, we have Joey Wheeler in our sights. The duelist called Bonz is making a move on him—he's working for us." Panik grinned. He knew of Bonz from the Duelist Kingdom tournament. Panik had been one of Pegasus' hired lackeys, one of the "duelist eliminators" charged with culling the weak duelists from the herd.

Yugi Muto put a stop to that, when he challenged Panik to a duel to win back a friend's star chips—the old-fashioned, Duelist Kingdom equivalent of the locator card. He defeated Panik, even failing to flinch from streams of fire that were launched at him by Panik's custom-made arena.

Since then, Panik perfected his skills, even temporarily joining up with the Rare Hunters. Since facing Yugi, his deck and strategies had improved. He now had a Masked Beast, Des Guardius, Zoa, and other powerful fiends, along with mighty zombies and "Gravekeeper's" cards.

As far as fiend deck players went, he was virtually unstoppable.

He hadn't given up on his intimidation tactics, either. When he could, he'd lure his targets into an abandoned warehouse with a special dueling arena, shrouded in darkness with saws and jagged metal suspended in the air or hanging on walls. Also, the arena had the Duelist Kingdom "field power boost" setting on, so the darkness gave any of his Dark monsters an instant 20 attack and defense boost.

Now, he'd have to lure Joey Wheeler into his trap, using a trio of duelists—the ex-Rare Hunter and former magician Arkana and the ever-skittish zombie duelist Bonz. When it happened, they'd overpower him, and remove him from the tournament.

What his new employer wanted by removing the Battle City semifinalist and Duelist Kingdom Runner-up, Panik didn't know or care. All he knew was that there was a significant pay-raise in store for him, plus a chance to strike back at Yugi—by taking down his best friend.

"Good work, Panik. But wait. Keep tabs on him for now—wait until tomorrow before striking."

"As you wish, Boss." It was painful, to have to wait for this. But, he was patient; he could stalk his new prey for days. In the meantime, he'd go and increase the number of locator cards he had. The boss, after all, had only given him four to start out with. He expected five times as many by the end of the week.

He saw one particularly weak duelist—a small redheaded boy who looked as though he was ten. Easy prey, but prey nonetheless. Panik would enjoy collecting his locator card.

* * *

At first, Mai thought this duel would be easy. She hadn't even bothered to pull the fake psychic act. It wouldn't work twice on Rex—especially since Joey had seen through it. And, at first, it _had_ been a piece of cake.

Then he brought out that Cyber-tech thing, and it was stronger than anything she had to offer. Not even her Harpie's Pet Dragon was strong enough to contend with it—and it was the card that almost beat Yugi. It seemed as though it was the end of the line for Mai. Unless . . .

_Unless I take out that Premature Burial. That is the only card standing in the way of his life points. I need some sort of magic-destroyer, or I'm through._

Before drawing her card, Mai looked at her hand. _Harpie's Pet Dragon, Soul Exchange, Harpy Lady, and Magician of Faith._ Mai drew an Unfriendly Amazon.

"For my turn, I switch my Harpy to defense mode, and set a monster in defense mode." _He'll attack the facedown card—my Magician. When it flips, I'll get my Feather Duster back, and clear away his monsters. _

"Good. For my turn, I'll play Raigeki, and clear away all of your monsters. And, I'll sacrifice both of my monsters, to summon Serpent Knight Dragon!"

Yugi, standing behind Mai, spoke up. "But you lost that card to Espa Roba in your first Battle City duel. And, that's a Regional Championship exclusive; they have a new card every year!"

"In case you forgot, genius, Weevil Underwood was also in that Regional. He uses insect monsters, so he gave me his."

"Oh. Okay."

"Enough. Serpent Night Dragon, attack!" Mai almost screamed as sonic waves sliced through the air, impacting against her arms, face, and chest. Her life points fell drastically, to 2550.

"Come on, Mai, you can still beat him!" Yugi shouted over the din. Mai opened her eyes. She was on the ground, arms wrapped around her. "You just have to believe in yourself."

"What?" she asked. It came out as "Ungh."

"Get up! You have to beat Rex!"

Mai managed to get to her feet. She looked at her hand. She still had a way to beat Raptor. She just needed one more card from her deck.

"Get anything good?" Rex taunted.

"Yup. I just drew the one card that will seal your fate. First, I'll play Monster Reborn, reviving Cyber Harpy. Then, I'll offer her as a sacrifice for Harpie's Pet Dragon."

"You can't! That monster takes two sacrifices!"  
"Oh, yes. I forgot to mention I'm also sacrificing your Serpent Night Dragon."

"How?"

Mai sighed in exasperation. "With this Soul Exchange, I can."

"This isn't good," Rex stated lamely.

"You bet it isn't. Here's my revenge for that attack. Harpie's Pet Dragon, avenge your master!" The giant orange dragon released a stream of flame, and Rex was swallowed by the holographic blaze. He was now only at 1250 life points, so one more attack like that one would finish him off.

"This duel isn't over yet, Mai," Rex groaned. Obviously, the blow had been hard emotionally as well as physically.

"It will be soon."

"But for who? I don't think you can win—especially with what I'm about to do next. I'll activate another magic card called the Shallow Grave. Each of us gets to revive one card in face-down defensive mode."

"So what? I'll revive my Cyber Harpy, to give her pet dragon an extra 300 points of power."

"And I'll revive Kaiser Seahorse. You know, that Serpent Knight wasn't the most powerful card in my deck. But, for this turn, I'll only play a magic card called Nightmare's Steelcage, and set another monster."

"Good. Then I'll only play another Harpy Lady card, and activate the field card Mountain."

"That raises the power of dragons and your Harpies."

"Right. I think you're through."

"Is that so? Well, for this turn, I'll set two cards."

"And I'll play another Elegant Egotist, summoning a third Harpy, giving the Pet Dragon a total of 3200 attack points."

"It won't matter. Your move."

"I'll attack your Kaiser with Harpie's Pet Dragon!"

"And I'll play Shift, changing your attack to target none other than the Magician of Faith!"

"Oh, no!"

"Right. I get my Raigeki card back. Any more foolish attacks?"

"Cyber Harpy, destroy it quickly!"

"Negate Attack blocks that attack. My turn?"

"Yes."

"Good. It's the last turn of this duel!"

"What do you mean?" _What can he do that will—oh, no! He got back that Raigeki, and I don't have a way to counter it! He's going to attack my life points—no, wait. His Kaiser Seahorse isn't strong enough to take me out in one shot. And, by next turn, I'll have enough monsters to take him down. My Unfriendly Amazon is more than a match for his monster. _

"I play Raigeki!"

"Rex, you realize that your Kaiser Seahorse can't take me out in one hit? So, don't waste your time."

"Who said I'd attack with my _Kaiser Seahorse_?"

"What? You're going to sacrifice it? But no level five or six monster can take out my life points in one shot. There aren't any that could—"

"But Mai, Cyber-tech Alligator could, because of the Mountain field card you played."

"You're going to summon another of those flying machines?"

"No, Mai. I'm going to sacrifice Kaiser Seahorse for the strongest monster in my deck: the mighty dragon Seiyaryu!"

"That's got too high a level for a one-monster sacrifice!" Yugi called out. Mai had heard that Bandit Keith used one of these against Yugi, so he was the expert here.

"Don't you remember Mai's little trick with the Soul Exchange? Level restrictions are meant to be broken. And I have my Kaiser Seahorse to thank for that."  
"What do you mean? Does it have a special effect?"

"Yugi, for the best Duel Monsters player in the world, you sure are clueless. Kaiser Seahorse counts as a double offering for Light monsters, like Blue-eyes White Dragon—and Seiyaryu.

"And it gets the 300 point power boost from the Mountain terrain!"

_I have no more monsters; no more traps. Rex has won, and there's no way I can stop him!

* * *

_

Joey watched the match, his emotional state going all over the place like a roller coaster. He'd been angry when Rex attacked Mai directly with that Serpent Night Dragon. He didn't know how Rex had gotten another—he was too far away from the duel to hear the conversation.

He was overjoyed when Mai countered with a direct attack from that Harpie's Pet Dragon. That card almost brought Yugi to defeat, so it would easily overcome Rex Raptor's puny beat-down deck.

Now, he felt horrified, as Rex's rainbow-winged monster roared and prepared to fire its Holy Flame attack.

He wanted to jump out and block the blow, but he couldn't. He stood there, transfixed on the duel. His eyes were glued to the raging fireball in the large beak of the dragon. He gazed on that fireball, as it leapt from the beak of the many-colored dragon, flying past the holographic mountain ranges, and striking Mai Valentine right in the chest.

He could do nothing as she fell to the ground, listened as Rex Raptor gave a triumphant laugh. He was paralyzed, as the entire crowd was. But Joey was paralyzed for a different reason than the spectators. They were just waiting for the conclusion of a duel. To them, Mai's loss meant nothing.

To Joey, it was everything.

_How had it happened?_ He asked himself. _How is it that she lost?_

_Was it that mumbo-jumbo psychic act that gave her the winning edge in her last duel against Rex?_

No; it couldn't have been. Mai made it to the Battle City finals! She went head-to-head with Marik Ishtar himself, and only lost because of the Winged Dragon of Ra—a God card. Losing to one of them was as inevitable as death itself. And Mai had almost won that, anyway.

_Have to do something,_ he thought, as Rex moved closer to Mai. All Joey could do was shuffle closer, through the crowd. Rex stood a few feet away from Mai, looking triumphant.

Then Joey saw him pucker his lips, and knew what it was that he had just won.

_Oh, no you don't_! he thought, leaping out of the crowd in between Rex and Mai, arms spread wide.

"Wheeler? What is the meaning of this?"

"I know what you're after, lame-brain, and you ain't getting it!"

"Get out of my way!" Rex snarled.

"Joey, do it," Mai said from behind him. "A deal's a deal."

Joey turned, not managing to restrain the shock he felt. "But, Mai—"

"I made a bet, and I lost. Here's my locator card," she said, tossing it to Rex, who deftly slipped it into one of his pockets.

"Hey, Rex. How about I take that locator back from you in a duel?"

"What, face you again? Why bother. I beat Mai; I have nothing else to prove."

"How about, if Joey loses, I have to go out on a date with you?"

"What?" Rex's eyes snapped wide open. "You will?"

Both Joey and Yugi stared open-mouthed at her. "You'll agree to _that?_"

"Yes, I will. But, if he wins, you have to leave me alone, and never so much as talk to me ever again. And our other bet will be called off."

"Fine by me. I'll not only have three locator cards, but I'll have a girlfriend, and have crushed the only duelist to beat me in a fair fight!"

"You think that you can beat me, Rex? Dream on. Espa Roba was a cheater, but he's also a very good duelist. And I wiped the floor with both of you!"

"That's right!" Yugi said. Apparently, he was not all that angry with Joey. But Joey still didn't want to trust the spirit of his Millennium Puzzle. Not yet, at any rate. "You can beat him again!"

"But my record for beating the people who beat me is one and zero. Whereas you've never beaten Yugi or Kaiba."

"I beat Yugi, once," Joey said indignantly.

"Yeah, while you were a brain-washed zombie." Rex laughed. "You don't stand a chance against me!"

"Is that so? I didn't see _you_ at the Battle City finals."

"Mai was there, and I creamed her!"

"But I'm not Mai, am I? She barely lost that one, and would have won, if you didn't have that cheap Kaiser Seahorse card."

"Cheap?"

"Yeah, cheap. I bet you couldn't summon that Seiyaryu without it!"

"I'll show you! Fine, I'll remove it from my deck, and summon Seiyaryu the right way."

_Good work! I maneuvered him into removing the one card that could mess this up for me._

"So, why are you boys just standing around?" Mai asked. "Come on, hurry it up. We don't have all day."

"Right," Joey said. _And I'm going to win this!

* * *

_

"So, the tournament has begun," the spirit said to his most trusted follower.

"Yes, master. All is going according to plan, so far." Ken was a perfect lackey. He never back-talked; only spoke when he was spoken to, or when he thought his master needed something. Not only was he the perfect worker in his attitudes and tendencies. He also looked very much the part.

Like all of the spirit's followers, he was tall, muscular, wearing a black suit, ray-bans, and a radio headset. They were loyal, easy to control or manipulate with the Millennium Rod, and obedient even without the Item's magic influences. None of them were very bright, but they were wise and independent enough to do their jobs with some ingenuity.

"Really? Who has participated in the first round, as far as our targets go? What about Yugi?"

"Yugi Muto has not participated in any duels as of this time. He appears to be watching a match between Rex Raptor and Mai Valentine—wait! Our watchers say the duel has just ended. Raptor is the winner, and another target—Joey Wheeler—is challenging him."

"What about the others?"

"The Paradox Brothers have challenged a pair of duelists, of unknown names. We have people shadowing them. Weevil Underwood is facing another duelist, and is winning. Seto Kaiba just beat the oldest of Espa Roba's brothers. Mako Tsunami is over at the docks, fishing."

"He learned that the aquarium is not the best place to catch his lunch, did he?" the spirit mused.

"What, master?"

"Nothing, Ken. Keep going."

"Kaiba is challenging another duelist—Espa Roba—at this time."

The spirit nodded. "Good. Send someone to Weevil Underwood. I want to convince him to face his old nemesis Yugi."

"I'll see to it personally, master."

"Keep up the good work, Ken. You know what happens to those who displease me." He pointed to a giant shadow box on the wall. Inside were several blank Duel Monsters cards. A few of them had pictures. One was a girl with shoulder-length brown hair. Another was a boy with his hair combed up in a spike. Tea Gardner and Tristan Taylor, Yugi's friends. The other was a fat, bald man, who used to have Ken's job. They were soul cards—pieces of paper that were the physical embodiments of the souls of those who the spirit had captured with the Millennium Eye's magic.

With a gulp, he uttered one last "Yes, master," and scampered out the door.

The spirit laughed to himself. It felt so good to once again rule over others. He had not felt that feeling for five thousand years. It was once he escaped from Marik Ishtar—taking the man's Millennium Rod with him—that he had the power to assemble a following. But it wasn't enough for him. He needed more power.

And soon he would have it. Soon, he would take the Millennium Puzzle from Yugi Muto and claim all the powers of Yami. He would have all that he desired soon after, when he claimed the remaining three Millennium Items from Ishizu Ishtar and Shadi. And he would do what he failed to do five thousand years ago.

He would rule over this world and the Shadow Realm, for all eternity.

**TO BE CONTINUED . . .**


	6. Duel for the Souls 6: All's Fair

**Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**Duel for the Souls **

**RAPTOR'S RAGE III: **

**All's Fair**

**Last Time:**

Mai Valentine puts up a valiant fight, but loses to Rex Raptor. Then, Joey Wheeler steps in, and challenges him to a duel—almost doubling the stakes. And, little to Joey's knowledge, someone of great power is watching him, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

* * *

"Lets get this duel over with," Rex Raptor said. "I've got a date to go on now, thanks to you!"

"Is that so? Well, you haven't won yet—especially considering that the duel hasn't even started!" Joey Wheeler shot back. Joey was a tall blond-haired teenager, who was just about the start his senior year at Domino High School. He was the runner-up of the Duelist Kingdom tournament, and a semifinalist of last years Battle City.

He had been in many tough battles, even managing to hold his own against Yugi Muto, the best duelist in the world, and former Duel Monsters World Champion Seto Kaiba. He'd even beaten the Intercontinental Champion "Bandit" Keith Howard, and Japanese Regional Champion Weevil Underwood. He was good at this.

His opponent, Rex Raptor, was a man of medium height, with brown hair. Under his red stocking cap, a single white lock was visible. He had on a rugged green jacket and blue jeans. On his white T-shirt was the picture of a T-rex taking a bite out of a stegosaurus. Rex was the runner-up from the last Regional Championship. He also beat one of the toughest non-title holders in the world, Mai Valentine.

"But I will win! Today's my lucky day. I took out Mai easily, and now I'm going to teach you a big lesson, about losing."

"Hey, bone-head. I've lost a few duels in my day—against Yugi, Kaiba, Duke Devlin, and Marik Ishtar."

"You've lost playing in the yards of the _giant_ dogs. Lets see if us big dogs can take you down, too!"

"I won't lose to _you_!" Joey spat.

"You know, Wheeler, this duel will warm me up for when I go up against the people who beat _you_."

"Oh, I'll warm you up—and wear you out!"

"Would you two boys stop bickering and duel already?" Mai Valentine shouted. She was a tall woman, whom Joey thought was very beautiful. They got off to a rocky start as friends—they started out being rivals. Mai had been a greedy girl, trying to claw her way to the top of Duelist Kingdom by beating the weakest people she could find. And who was weaker than Joey Wheeler, a nobody who happened to wander in to the big leagues. He was even in a weakened state at the start of the tournament; he and Yugi both had one of the sought-after Star Chips, while the other duelists had two.

Mai joined up with Joey and his friends for a while, and then Yugi saved her from being kicked out of the tournament. She eventually paid him back, giving him five Star Chips after he lost to Seto Kaiba. She also gave Joey her Glory of the King's Hand tournament entry card, after she lost to Yugi in the finals.

Now, Joey was dueling for her. Rex had challenged her to a duel for a kiss, and won. But, before collecting his prize, Joey stepped in and offered a new challenge, which Mai supplied Joey's end of the deal for. But, if Joey won Rex would have to leave Mai alone, without getting anything.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Joey asked. "Lets duel!"

"I'll let you go first—loser's honor, after all."

"Actually, the loser gets to _pick_ who goes first, so I think that you just filled that slot."

Rex clenched his fists, and growled. "I'll show you, you little . . ."

"So, for my first turn—" Joey looked down at the six cards in his hand. _Chasm of Spikes, Little-Winguard, Rocket Warrior, Salamandra, Battle Warrior and Giltia the Knight. I can use these, if I play my cards right. _"I set a card, and summon Little-Winguard in attack mode." The pair of hologram generators placed two meters on either side of Joey began to glow, and a giant card back materialized, hovering in the air in front of Joey. Then, a squat wizard with a blue cloak, giant hat, and staff appeared on the other side of it.

"My turn, and I'm already in a position to crush that little fairy so hard that it won't even leave a fossil!"

* * *

"Seto Kaiba!" someone roared.

Kaiba smirked, recognizing the voice as that of Espa Roba, a phony psychic. Roba was once a circus performer, along with his four younger brothers. Once their act was cut, the Roba family began to be the frequent target of bullies. Only Espa's dueling talents kept them at bay.

More recently, the oldest of his younger brothers became a duelist with skills that rivaled his brother's. Kaiba challenged him to a duel less than an hour ago, and easily won.

He stopped, setting his metal briefcase on the ground. Inside were his Duel Disk, deck, and a large collection of technological trinkets and trading fodder. "What do you want?"

"I want to challenge you, for what you did to my brother. It wasn't nice or fair, to remove him from his very first tournament like that."

"Fine. But I did it, so what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to get back his locator card, and take you out of this tournament!"

Kaiba smirked. "Is that so? Well, I guess I can duel you—for two locator cards?"

"Yes. Then I'll have three, and my brother will get his locator card back."

"That is, if you win." Kaiba already put on his duel disk by this time, and had his deck shuffled. "But I doubt you can do it."

"Come on, let's get this over with."

"Funny. I was thinking exactly the same thing. I'll let you go first."

Espa Roba began to draw from his deck, when Kaiba asked, "Are the 'cosmic forces' telling you anything about the outcome of this little duel?"

"Yes, indeed they are. They say that it's obvious that, since I am fighting for someone other than myself, then I am going to win."

"Aren't you the altruist? Well, I'm ready and waiting for you to make a move."

"Good. I'll summon Reflect Bounder, in attack mode. I'll also set two other cards face-down."

"This is almost too sweet. For my first turn, I'll set a monster and three cards facedown. I'll also activate Nobleman of Extermination to slice one of your cards out of the game."

"My Mind Control card!" Espa cried. "If you'd attacked, it would have taken control of your monster!"

"But now, it does you no good. Seeing as how only a Miracle Dig card can return cards from the graveyard."

"That's not fair!" Espa cried.

"So what? It's your move."

"I'll summon Cyber Raider, and attack your monster."

"Shadow Spell, wrapping your monster in chains and stopping it dead in its tracks."

"Oh, no!"

"And I'll attack with this monster, La-Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp, bringing you down 1100 life points."

"I'll use Soul Exchange, sacrificing your facedown—" He watched as his card revealed a Dimensional Warrior card. "—Dimensional Warrior to summon Jinzo, negating all trap cards."

"That's not good."

"I'll add in this magic card called Ground Collapse, limiting you to three monsters on the field. And, by playing Amplifier, I can give my Jinzo 2700 attack points, raising with each passing turn."

Kaiba lips twitched in a smile, hiding his fear. "Just great."

* * *

"I summon Twin-headed King Rex, and equip him with Raise Body Heat, bringing his attack to 1900 points. Attack that Little-Winguard!"

"Not so fast, Rex Crapper. I have a trap card set."

"A trap?"

"Yeah. It's a little something called Chasm of Spikes. When you attack, it destroys the monster and deals a quarter of its attack points as damage to you. Since you powered it up, you take 475 points of direct damage."

"You'll pay for that. I'll play Nightmare's Steelcage, to keep you from taking advantage of this."

Joey sighed in relief. He'd managed to draw Rex out in anger. And, Rex had given up his best chance of winning the duel—his Kaiser Sea Horse card.

In his duel against Mai, Rex played a rare and powerful card called the Kaiser Sea Horse. It was a level-four monster with 1700 attack points and 1650 defense. But that wasn't what made it so good.

Kaiser Sea Horse had a very powerful special ability—which made a must-have for duelists that had high-level LIGHT main-type monsters. According to the "tribute summon" rules, a level seven or eight monster needed two sacrifices. For LIGHT monsters, the Sea Horse counted as both of those sacrifices, instead of just one.

Joey managed to get Rex to think that only it made it so he could beat Mai. He also said Rex would never be able to summon his best card, Seiyaryu, without its special ability. Rex took the bait, and removed it from his deck.

"Fine by me. I'll just switch my Little-Winguard to defense mode, and play Battle Warrior in defense mode. I also set one card face-down."

"My turn. I'll summon Uraby in attack mode. I'll also play Wasteland, a field magic card that will raise its attack 200 points."

"My move. I'll play Rocket Warrior, and use his special ability."

"What's that?"

Joey sighed and shook his head.

"What? What is it?"

"Oh, nothing big. It's just that it can lower the attack of any mosnter by 500 points, whenever it wants. Since your Steelcage only blocks _attacks_, it can't stop my Rocket Warrior from colliding with your monster." Even as Joey spoke, the warrior transformed into a small rocket ship, and took off, burning a hole through the thick iron bars surrounding Joey.

The rocket flew around in circles, and then slammed into the raptor, exploding. When the dust cleared, the Rocket Warrior—now back to its original state—leapt through the hole in iron bars. Uraby, when the dust cloud dissipated from around it, looked half-dead.

"Now your Nightmare's Steelcage is gone, so we can go back to attacking each other."

"Right." Rex drew a card. "You know, Wheeler, I lied when I said Seiyaryu was the most powerful monster in my deck. There's one more monster that's got more power—and a killer effect. But you'll find that out later. First, I'll play Armored Lizard, in attack mode."

"Armored Lizard isn't even a dinosaur card—it's a reptile monster, and pretty weak at that."

"You idiot! If you knew anything, you'd know that dinosaurs evolved from reptiles!"

"So what? It's not like you have a Time Wizard or anything like that to make it grow."

"But I do have a very powerful device, that will accelerate the evolution of my monster, and bring out the greatest terror in my deck."

"What's that?"

"A magic card, known as the Ultra Evolution Pill!" The Armored Lizard drank from a test tube, and then started to glow. Joey shielded his eyes against the glare, and when he looked back, a giant black dinosaur stood where the lizard had been.

"Say hello to my mightiest creature, Black Tyranno!"

"I've never heard of the Black Tyranno!"

"Well, you're about to see it in action. Destroy Joey's Rocket Warrior!" The black T-rex stomped down on Joey's shuttle man, and it exploded. Since the Rocket Warrior could only use its effect during Joey's turn, he took the 1300 points of damage.

_Oh, man. I've never seen anything like this! It's only the third turn of the duel, and already I'm in way over my head. There is no card in my deck that could take it out!

* * *

_

"You don't have anything to stop Jinzo! While it's on the field, it negates all trap cards. So don't even bother playing any. Now, Jinzo, Dark Energy Blast!" The robed android groaned, and fired a quivering ball of darkness at Kaiba's green magician. The ball hit, and the genie was sucked inside it.

Kaiba didn't even blink. He knew that this was just a temporary setback. Besides, he had a plan. He always did. He drew a card from his deck, and growled in disappointment. He needed a Lord of Dragons and Flute of Summoning Dragons card if he was going to win this.

_But I can still set up a defense._

"I play Monster Reborn, reviving Dimensional Warrior to defend my life points. I'll also summon Wall of Illusion to strengthen my defense."

"What will that do?"

"Dimensional Warrior will destroy Jinzo if it attacks, and my Illusion Wall can send it back to your hand—ending its trap-negating effect and letting me set a trap to keep you from summoning it."

"What if I find another way to destroy them?"

"It won't matter. I have a backup plan—I play Heart of Clear Water to keep Wall of Illusion safe from any attacks."

"So you think that can stop my Jinzo?"

"It'll hold it off for a while." _Until I can get a Blue-eyes White Dragon on the field and blast that old machine. _"I'll end my turn."

"Good. But, Kaiba, I know what your planning. And I'll tell you why it won't work."

_That _was interesting. "What plan would that be?"

"You plan to play a Blue-eyes White Dragon, since, right now, it has 300 more attack points than my Jinzo."

"I don't see any flaws in it yet. I congratulate you, by the way, on figuring it out."

"With you, everything is Blue-eyes."

"That's true enough, but why won't it work?"

"Simple. Amplifier."

"It raised Jinzo's attack power to 2700. So what?"

"That's not all it does. Each turn, Jinzo will gain another 300 attack points. And soon he'll be more powerful than the Dragon Master Knight!"

"If I don't find a way to stop him," Kaiba snarled. _Well, that's out of the question. There's only one way to beat that thing now. I need Saggi the Dark Clown and my Crush magic card. They can win this for me._

"For my turn, I'll summon Cyber Falcon, and use it as a sacrifice to your Dimensional Warrior, leaving you with only one of your monsters to stand in my way." The mechanical falcon fired off its rockets and collided with the lanky humanoid. A small black hole appeared, sucking in both monsters and destroying them.

"Now all I have to do is take down that pesky Wall of Illusion. Then you'll be wide open for an attack."

"Really? But how do you intend to do that? Heart of Clear Water makes my Wall impenetrable."

"We'll see. You know, Heart of Clear Water only blocks attacks and cards that designate targets. If I play a non-designating card, it'll be all over."

"We'll see, all right."

* * *

"Man, that is one tough monster," Joey said. "How am I going to beat it?"

"Give up now, Wheeler, because you can't beat it."  
"Then I'll just have to set up a defense." _Oh, no! It's Weevil's old Parasite Paracide card. Wait! If I can bluff him into not attacking it, I can use it to infect his deck. _"I'll set one card face down and end my turn."

Rex began to laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"You just made the biggest mistake of your whole career, Wheeler!"

"How's that?"

"My Black Tyranno has a special ability, and your last move just activated it."

"A special ability? Was it playing a monster card?"

"No, you fool. It was leaving your monsters in defense mode."

"But then you could attack my life points!"

"But now I can still do it!"

"You mean that this is a big Mad Sword Beast?"

"No, Wheeler. When you have only defense mode monsters, he can attack directly!"

"What do you mean? Like an Alligator's Sword Dragon?"

"Exactly!"

"Joey, keep your cool. You can still stop it!" Yugi Muto shouted. Joey's long-time friend and undisputed champion of the Duel Monsters world, Yugi was trying to save two of his friends, Tea Gardner and Tristan Taylor, from an evil soul-snatcher.

"I can? How?"

"You still have ways to stop an attack. You just have to think about it, and trust in your deck."

_He's right. I got Kunai with Chain, Fairy Box, Magic-arm Shield, and a bunch of other traps. And if I play Panther Warrior with a Lightning Blade, I'll match that overgrown iguana point for point._ He smiled. _Rex isn't unstoppable!_

"But right now, Mr. King of Games, Joey can't do anything."

"Yeah, I'll take the hit." The force of the physical blow knocked Joey to the ground. He landed hard on his left arm, and cradled it as he struggled back to his feet. He was down to 3800. He was down, but not out.

"I'll set a card this turn," Joey said, wincing as he repositioned his left arm so that he could draw and place cards on the Duel Disk strapped to it. "I'll also flip up my Parasite Paracide card, so that it will infect any monsters you play, turning them all to Insects."

"What? Insects?"

"That's right. And, you can't sacrifice any of these monsters for a tribute. Only a Machine or armored monster can hold this off!"

"But that means that I lose my field power bonus!"

"Right. So, here's where it all gets turned around. I summon Island Turtle in attack mode." The giant turtle yawned, shaking the palm trees and grass covering its back. "I'll also switch my Little-Winguard to attack mode."

"That's it! I'll make you pay for that," Rex growled. "I'll attack your monsters with my Black Tyranno!"

"Oh, no!" Yugi cried. "If that attack hits, Joey will be down to 2300 life points!"

* * *

"Now, I think I finally have a way to take out that wall. Who said I had to take it out while the Heart was protecting it?" The blue-haired sideshow freak said.

"What?" Kaiba asked. "What do you mean?"

"I can take out that Heart card without touching your wall. And there's no way you can stop me!"

"Why not?"

"Because you can't play any counter-traps! Jinzo is keeping them all at bay, remember? Or was it only luck that gave you your title?"

"We'll see. What if I had a way to destroy your Jinzo without a trap card?"

"There is no way!" Espa exclaimed. "Joey Wheeler only won because he used a Roulette Spider card, and its outcome was based entirely on luck."

"But I've beaten Wheeler and his luck. That means that I'll be able to beat you easily."

"But I've improved since Battle City—whereas you always have the same old tricks, from what I've heard. Have you ever not played a Blue-eyes White Dragon in a duel?"

"Of course I have—I got my title using other cards."

"Then let me see what you've got."

"Fine. I will. But I will not let that little Jinzo card of yours get in my way."

"How do you intend to destroy it—during my turn." As if it were alive, the Jinzo crossed its long, machine-implant-coated arms across its robed chest.

"I've been meaning to ask you, Espa: How did you get another Jinzo card after Joey Wheeler won it from you?"

Espa was taken aback. "Do you think that I'd only have one of my best card?"

"So you had two all along?"

"Precisely."

"Well, now you only have one, and I'm going to take it down."

"But for_ my_ turn, I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon, taking out that Heart card."

"That's not good," Kaiba breathed. "Now all I have is an undefended Wall of Illusion card."

"Right. Now, I'll summon Slate Warrior, and attack that wall, sending it back to my hand, but taking out your monster. Now, my super-powered Jinzo, attack Kaiba's life points directly!"

Kaiba now had 4100 life points—Espa Roba had 6900.

"It's time to get revenge on that overgrown machine of yours."

"How do you intend to do that?"

"With this. First, Lets clear away all of our magic and trap cards with this Heavy Storm!" Roba lost a few trap cards, plus amplifier. The tornado also tore away Kaiba's Negate Attack and Ring of Defense.

"Now my Jinzo is back at 2400 attack points!"

Kaiba smirked. "Precisely. Now that I've taken care of that little problem, I'll set two cards face-down." _What he doesn't know is that this is a combo attack. He's about to get a taste of the cards that laid Yugi to waste back at Duelist Kingdom, and what sealed my fate in my duel against Pegasus._

_Crush Card virus is going to take apart his deck, destroying all of his monsters with more than 1500 attack points. Since this psychic clown relies on powerful cards like Jinzo and Fiend Megacyber, he won't stand a chance once he activates the virus._

"Now, I'll play the magic card Stop Defense, forcing your monster into attack mode." When the card was revealed, he laughed. "Saggi the Dark Clown? This is a joke!"

Kaiba said nothing, but the plump-bodied, stick-armed clown with the distorted face laughed.

"Before I destroy that thing, I'll add this 7-Completed card to my Jinzo, making him 700 attack points stronger. Now, Jinzo, Psycho-shocker Blast!"

* * *

"Activate Shield and Sword!" Joey shouted as the giant T-rex ran up to tackle Joey's reptilian giant. "Offensive-defensive flip!"

"What?" everyone around him shouted.

"That's right, Rex—you just walked right into a trap. Now, your monster has 1800 attack points—while mine has a full 2000. That means that you lost your best monster, and your only chance of winning."

"Wheeler, you fool! That's a magic card. You can't play it during your opponent's turn."

"But I thought—"

"Only special magic cards, like Monster Recovery or Pyramid Energy, can be activated while your opponent is making his move. So, you go down to 2300 life points."

_Oh, man, that was harsh! _Yugi thought. _Joey made a mistake, and it might cost him the whole duel. Rex is still at 7525. Joey only did damage with his Chasm of Spikes card so far. _

_This isn't looking good for Mai's future_. Mai had a lot at stake in this duel—and a lot of faith in Joey's abilities to pull it off.

"Fine, then. For my turn, I'll play another magic card, Roulette Spider."

"Roulette Spider? But that is one of the most worthless cards in the game!"

"Not so. It won me the duel against Espa Roba, remember?"

"I also remember what it does—takes away half of the user's life points."

"Yeah, but what else? I'll have it latch on to the giant Black Tyranno card of yours." The cartoon-like spider leapt out, landing square on the dark-skinned behemoth's long muzzle, reaching out to cover its eyes. The T-rex struggled, but still walked to the center of the dueling space. A network of webbing threaded through the dueling arena, creating a hovering platform that the T-rex could spin on.

"Soon, your monster will start to spin. You get to tell it when to stop. And when it does, it'll instantly attack whatever it's pointing at—could be me, could be you. Might be Tiny Guardian or Uraby. Anything."

"But if it hits you, you lose."

"Trust me, it won't."

"Really? Then lets test that theory. Let it fly, Black Tyranno!" The dino started to rotate rapidly, the large red arrow sticking out of the spider adhered to its face pointing at Joey, then his monster, then Rex, and his Uraby. It kept spinning and spinning and spinning . . .

* * *

"I'll be back later," the spirit said to one of his nameless minions. "When Ken returns, tell him I went out to see how my tournament is going." Ken was the most loyal and helpful of all of the spirit's followers. He wasn't all that bright, though, but he could get a job done fast and well.

"Yes, master," the suited man said. He looked just like all of the spirit's other minions—a tall, muscular man wearing a black suit and black tie. He wore a pair of Ray-bans and a microphone headset.

The spirit hated them all, but they were necessary. Besides, they could do what he needed them to do, and were perfectly loyal—considering that he had a constant reminder of what happened to those who betrayed him hanging in his office.

The spirit was that of Priest Seto, the ancestor and, in a way, father-of-the-soul to Seto Kaiba. He had led a revolution, five thousand years ago, against Yami the Pharaoh, in Egypt. His forces had marched right into the Pharaoh's throne room, facing his most trusted servants.

Yami's forces proved too much for Priest Seto's followers, but he easily destroyed all of them with his ultimate weapon, the living spirit of the Blue-eyes White Dragon. But it was not enough to stop Yami. Somehow, he performed a miracle, and defeated the priest, sealing him inside one of the seven Millennium Items.

Inside each Millennium Item was a piece of the powers that led up to this Great War, the Shadow Games. Like the modern-day card game Duel Monsters, the Shadow Games had monsters, magic, and traps. Only, in the Shadow Games, it was all real, with even more dire consequences for failure.

After his victory, Yami also sealed himself inside a Millennium Item, to safeguard them all. His spirit now resided inside Yugi Muto's Millennium Puzzle, the next item on his list.

The spirit had already taken the Millennium Eye from Pegasus, and the Rod from Marik Ishtar. Even though he was a spirit locked inside the Millennium Ring owned by a boy named Bakura Ryou, he would still gain all of those Items.

Now, though, he had to get suspicion off of his vessel, Bakura. So he would act as an entrant in this competition he had started, and work his way to the finals. Yugi might be there, if all else failed, so he would win the Millennium Puzzle from him.

Somehow.

And he would do it because it was his right to rule the world that should have been his, five thousand years ago.

**TO BE CONTINUED . . .**

****

**Note: **Once again, before you go bonkers, the Spirit of the Ring thinks he is Priest Seto, just as the spirit in the Puzzle is Pharaoh Atem. This is a key point in their future struggles.


	7. Duel for the Souls 7: Extinct Once Again

**Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**Duel for the Souls **

**RAPTOR'S RAGE IV: **

**Extinct Once Again**

**Last Time:**

Joey Wheeler and Rex Raptor begin their duel. Joey seems to have the upper hand at first, but then Rex turns the tables on him, summoning the mighty Black Tyrant. Now, Joey's suffering at less than a quarter of Rex's life points, and tries one last desperate ploy: Roulette Spider.

Meanwhile, Seto Kaiba is battling against Espa Roba, each for their respective brothers. Espa manages to take a slight lead over Kaiba, and plans to take out the expert duelist. But Kaiba has one last trick up his sleeve, one that will devastate Roba's deck.

* * *

"What's the matter, Rex?" Joey taunted. "Why don't you stop your Black Tyranno card?"

"I remember how you beat Espa Roba with this card," Rex Raptor replied. Joey did, too. It was a desperate maneuver, considering that, if he didn't pull this off, the duel would be over for him.

Roulette Spider was one of the least-used cards in the game. It drained half of the user's life points, just to use its chancy effect. It took control of one monster, causing it to spin around. When the owner of the captive monster told it to stop, the spinner would slow and point to something, and the monster would instantly attack. It could be a monster—or it could be one of the players.

"So what? I might have just signed my own death sentence, or it could be the beginning of the end for you."

"Stop!" Rex cried, and the monster began to slow. It stopped—pointing at Rex directly. "Oh, no!" he cried, as he fell to the ground from a vicious head butt. He may have had 7525 life points, but now he was down to 4925. A heavy blow.

"Joey, you fool! Now there's nothing to stop me from finishing you off this turn."

"Is that so? Did you forget about my Shield and Sword card?"

"So what?"

"I'll play that first, to start the offensive-defensive flip. Then, I'll sacrifice my Tiny Guardian card!"

"What are you going to summon?"

"My Flame Swordsman!"

"And he has an attack power of 1800. If you attack, both of our monsters would be destroyed, and you'd be open for a direct attack by one of my other dino—"

"Salamandra!" Joey shouted.

"What?" Rex cried out.

"Oh, yes, as you were saying, you'd attack with one of your other _Insects_," Joey said, grinning. That would remind Rex that all of his monsters would be infected by Parasite Paracide, and turned into insects. Also, he couldn't sacrifice monsters to summon others.

"I'll make you pay, Wheeler. This duel is far from over."

"Is that so?"

"You bet it is. Now, attack if you must. But I'll get even. You only have 1150 life points left anyway."

"That may be so, but I'm whittling away at yours, too. Now, Flame Swordsman, attack with Flaming Sword of Battle!" A fiery dragon leapt from the Pyro-warrior's sword, burning away at the giant black tyrant. Now Rex was at 4325.

"You haven't even taken out half of my life points yet, Wheeler."

"Yeah, but now I think I'll be able to."

"How's that?"

"Let me see if I can draw the right card, first."

"Fine. For my turn, I'll switch Uraby to defense mode, and switch Parasite to attack mode."

"You're just making this harder for you." Joey grinned. "And I know just how to deal a bunch of damage to your life points." Joey drew a card, and hoped. It was a Hinotama card. _Oh, drat! I was hoping for a Meteor of Destruction! That would cause dino-brain some real trouble. _

"Draw that card, Wheeler?"

"No, not yet," Joey growled. "But I'll play this Hinotama card, and summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in attack mode."

"So my life points are at 3825, and you have two monsters. So what?"

"Now, I can destroy even more of your life points. First, Gearfried will take down that weakened Uraby." The steel-encased warrior swung his razor-sharp lance, cleaving the ailing dino-insect apart. "And I think my Parasite is ready to go to the graveyard. Flaming Sword of Battle!"

"And since the magic of your Shield and Sword is still in effect, I take even more damage!"

"That's right. Parasite usually has 500 attack points, but, with the offensive-defensive flip, it took on the 300 defense points as its attack. Flame Swordsman, since he was played _after_ Shield and Sword, keeps his basic 1800 attack points. And, with the magic of Salamandra, it now has 2500 attack points. Meaning you're going down 2200 now, to 1625, pretty close to my score!"

"Is that so? What if I said I wanted you to attack?"

"What do you mean?"

"It lets me activate this trap card: Michizure!"

"Michizure!" _Oh, no! That's the card Duke used to destroy my Sword Hunter. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have lost to him. He wouldn't have gotten a chance to attack my defenseless Goblin Attack Force—because it wouldn't have been played at all. _

"Yeah, and it's going to drag your Swordsman's sorry carcass into your Parasite's grave."

"No!"

"Keep your cool, Joey. You can still pull off a victory." Yugi said.

"How can I?" Joey asked. "Now I don't have any good monsters to play!"

"Don't worry, Joey," Mai Valentine urged. "You have to win this for me!" She was right; if Joey lost, Mai would have to go out on a date with Rex.

"Right. Well, nothing else to do this turn."

"Good. Now I'll summon the Hyper Hammerhead to defend my life points this turn."

"Hyper Hammerhead? I've never heard of that card."

"It's another powerful dinosaur."

Joey cocked his head to the side, and a quizzical look rose on his face. "Doesn't look all that great to me." Indeed, the monster only had 1500 attack points and 1200 defense.

"It's the perfect defense for my life points."

"Really?" Joey shook his head. "Doesn't look that great to me."

"We'll see—if you dare to attack it."

"I guess we'll wait then—because I'm only setting one card in defense mode this turn." _Man, I have to get ready for the biggest showdown of this duel—his Seiyaryu against my Red-eyes Black Dragon. I need to be prepared for the big push._

"I'll also set a monster."

"I'll play another Hinotama card. Now that we're just about even, I'll be happy to take you down for good."

"That so? Well, anything else?"

"Nope. But I'm ready for you."

"I'll just summon Mad Sword Beast to defend me another turn."

"Fine, my move. I summon Goblin Attack Force, and attack that Mad Sword with Gearfried!" Joey grinned. "I think it's time to finish this."

"You might be right. And I'll be the one to get this started. I sacrifice two cards to summon Serpent Night Dragon. Sonic Strike!"

"My Gearfried!" Joey cried, as his life points took a dangerous plunge to 600.

"That's just the beginning."

"What do you mean?"

"I play the Time Machine to bring back one of my monsters: Mad Sword Beast."

"Oh, you just mad a big mistake, Rex! I sacrifice my other monsters to summon my Red-eyes Black Dragon! Inferno Fireball!" Joey's team of green-skinned gremlins and the armored penguin shattered, and reformed as a skeletal black beast with glowing red eyes. It blasted a roar at Rex—even though it was a hologram, its "breath" tugged at Rex's jacket collar and hair. The, it belched up a giant sphere of flame, sending it at Rex's Sword Beast.

His life points fell to 125.

"Wheeler, you think that I'm done? You're wrong!"

"I think that I'm in a position to take you down!"

"Really? I play another Nightmare's Steelcage, to give me time to prepare. First, I'll set another card face-down, and switch Serpent Dragon to defense mode."

"I'll set one monster card face-down, and end my turn."

"I sacrifice both of my monsters for Seiyaryu!" Rex grinned triumphantly. "I told you I didn't need that Kaiser Sea Horse card to summon it. And, next turn, it'll take you down."

"I sacrifice my monster for Garoozis and set a card face-down."

"Good. Leaving that Garoozis in attack mode was the biggest mistake you've ever made, Wheeler, and you're about to see why! Now that Steelcage is gone, I can finish you off! Seiyaryu, Holy Flame!"

"If that attack hits," Yugi cried, "then Joey's done!"

"But it just ain't happening today, Yugi. Kunai With Chain!" A chained Boomerang snagged Rex's multi-colored dragon, stopping its attack. "And now that that's done, this duel is over!"

"I still have enough life points left to take you out!"

"Not for long!" Joey reached for his deck to draw his last card. _This is make-it-or-break-it time. If I don't draw the right card, then this duel ends for me, not Rex. After this turn, I'll have no more tricks to play._ He drew, and hoped, and his faith paid off.

"What is it?" Rex demanded as he saw Joey's growing smile. "What is it?"

"The end of this duel! I play the magic card I got from you at Duelist Kingdom: Dragon Nails. It raises the attack of my Red-eyes 600 points. That makes him much more powerful than your dragon. Now, Red-eyes Black Dragon, attack!" Joey watched in pride as his super-powered dragon blasted apart Rex's multi-colored saint dragon. Rex fell to his knees.

"Way to go, Joey!" Yugi cheered. "You did it!"

Mai ran up to Joey, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a peck on the cheek—her make-up masked his blush. "Thank you so much, Joey." But then her tone went icy-cold. "If you ever bring it that close to the wire ever again, Joey, I'll kill you."

"Gee, you're welcome." Then he turned to Rex. "Hand Mai the locator card, then get out of here." He did, and walked away. Joey noticed something on the ground, once Rex was long gone.

"What is it, Joey?" Yugi asked as he knelt down to pick up a Duel Monsters card.

"Rex dropped his Seiyaryu."

"We should find him and give it back!" Yugi said.

"I'll hold onto it until we see him again."

"Okay. Well, I better head home—it's getting late. See you tomorrow, Joey; Mai." Yugi walked off, and Joey, beaming in his victory, returned home as well.

* * *

"Jinzo, Psycho-shocker Blast!" Espa Roba shouted. His giant robed android groaned, and held its hands before it. Its fingertips released waves of energy, obliterating the dark clown. It shattered into many large pieces. Kaiba smiled, then laughed in sync with the clown's head's continuing laughter.

"What's so funny?" Espa Roba demanded. "I just brought you down to 2300 life points!"

"And in doing so, lost the duel."

"I destroyed your last defense!"

"Was he destroyed—or sacrificed?"

Espa took a step back. "What do you mean?"

"You just released a virus on your own deck. Destroying Saggi was the biggest mistake in your dueling career!"

"You don't mean—"

"Yes. You've activated the Crush Card virus!" The remains of Saggi, still laughing hysterically, dissolved into a fine powder, converging on Espa Roba's monster and deck. Jinzo cried out, but soon vanished in even more virus particles. Kaiba stood there smiling.

"What's happening?"

"Crush Card unleashes a virus on your deck, one that infects only your most powerful creatures. Now, any monster you play with more than 1500 attack points will be destroyed utterly. And, for my turn, I summon a monster that will take any of your pathetic weaklings on: Vorse Raider!"

"I have no monsters to play," Espa cried.

"Who said I was done my turn, freak? I set two cards, and attack you directly!" The man-hunter swung his axe, slicing Espa's life point count—which flashed "virus" every few seconds—down to 5000.

"I pass this turn," Espa moaned.

"Good. I summon Battle Ox!" Kaiba grinned, as his Minotaur roared. "Attack! Axe Slam!" Both monsters leapt to the front, one with 1700 attack points, the other with its 1900. Espa staggered, and fell to his knees. His assured victory was falling around him. While he stood in the lead at 6900 just two turns ago, with a near-unstoppable monster, now he only had 1400. And Kaiba was in a position to take the last of them.

"I, uh, I summon Oni Tank T-34, in defense mode, and use Monster Reborn to revive your Wall of Illusion."

"This duel is now over. I activate my trap card, Ring of Destruction!" Kaiba laughed. "By summoning a monster, you sealed your fate. Ring of Destruction will now deal 1400 points of damage to each of us, meaning that you lose!"

Kaiba walked over to Espa Roba, and snatched up the two locator cards. "Nobody stands in the way of me and my brother," Kaiba said, as he walked away. He had four locator cards now, on the first day of the tournament. And he only needed six more to enter the finals. He'd win, easily. Because no one could stop him from saving Mokuba.

* * *

"So, if it isn't Rex Raptor," someone said from a shadowy alley.

Rex stopped walking. It had been hours since Rex's loss to Joey Wheeler, and he was still furious. Not only that, but he dropped his Seiyaryu card. It was nowhere to be found. Maybe the stranger had found Rex's most prized card!

"Rex, I'd like to challenge you to a duel. It would greatly help me in this tournament, even if I lost to you. I need the experience, after all."

"Today's just not my day," Rex said. "Go away."

"Come on! I heard that you beat Mai Valentine! She's one of the toughest duelists in the world!"

"Oh, alright, if it gets you to leave me alone. For one locator card, because I only have one."

"But you beat Mai! You should have taken one from her!"

"Yeah, well, I lost to Joey Wheeler." The man, a boy really, only nodded, as if he already knew. He was of medium height, slightly overweight, with dark curly hair and dark, angry eyes.

"Lost, huh? Well, let me see if you can't win back your lost locator card. Come on—it's time to duel!"

Five minutes later, they were ready. The boy decided to go first. "For my first move, I'll play Pot of Greed, to draw two cards." The boy looked the over. "I summon La Jinn, the Mystical Genie of the Lamp, in attack mode, and set two cards."

"Your genie is going to be dino-food! I summon Twin-headed King Rex, and equip him with Raise Body Heat, increasing his attack 300 points. Stomp that green circus freak!"

"No!" the boy grunted. The two-headed dinosaur crushed his green-skinned servant. "Good move."

"You bet it was."

"But it's nothing compared to this! I summon Thunder Nyan Nyan! Attack that dinosaur!"

"Their attack powers are equal!" Rex shouted. "They'll both be destroyed!"

"That's right," the boy confirmed. "But I don't really care. Your turn."

"I'll summon Hyper Hammerhead, and attack you directly!"

"I'll sacrifice Kuriboh from my hand to block your attack."

"Kuriboh?"

"That's right. It has a multi-trigger effect—and that trigger is your attack!" The hammer-headed beast ran towards the young man, preparing to strike. But, a little brown hairball materialized in its path, detonating on contact.

"That wasn't fair!" Rex said.

"Neither was attacking me directly. So, for my turn, I'll play Monster Reborn to revive La Jinn, and summon Slate Warrior. Attack!" Both monsters lashed out at the hammerhead, destroying it. Then, the green genie fired a blast of energy at Rex directly. His life point meter showed the drop to 5600, whereas his opponent was at 7900.

Despite that, Rex started to laugh. "You were foolish to attack my Hyper Hammerhead monster!"

"And why is that?"

"Because, if it doesn't destroy an opponent in battle, the opponent is sent back to its owner's hand."

"Too bad. But it won't help."

"Yes, it will. I'll first activate the magic card Curse of Fiend, to switch your La Jinn to defense mode. Then, I summon the monster called Armored Lizard, in attack mode!"

"A weak monster, but strong enough to take out my defending genie," the boy mused.

"But that's not all. I activate another magic card called Super Evolution Medicine. By giving it to my reptilian lizard, I can cause him to evolve into a dinosaur!"

"What dinosaur would that be?"

"Dark Driceratops!"

"Wow, cool monster. Too bad it won't be staying on the field too long."

"Why's that?"

"I intend to destroy it!"

"How?"

"We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"

"Fine. But, for now, it will attack—and bring you down by 1400 life points!"

"What? How?"

"This is the big brother of the Mad Sword Beast card!"

"Mad Sword Beast—Oh, yes. It deals the difference in the attacking monster's attack and the defender's defense score as battle damage. Very nice."

"You bet it is!"

"Now it's my turn to return that favor. I set one card face-down, and play the Swords of Revealing Light." Giant swords made of a blinding light stabbed down, surrounding Rex and his monster. "For three turns, I'll be free to set up a defense."

"I summon Uraby in defense mode, and play my own Monster Reborn card to revive Hyper Hammerhead."

"Three mighty dinosaurs, ready to pounce? Not likely. I set another monster."

"Only two turns left, then I'm free to attack. This turn, however, I'll sacrifice Uraby to summon Side Arm of Dragon." Rex grinned. "When your Light Swords wear off in just one more turn, it'll be all over for you."

"I'm not so sure. I still have one more free turn so I'll set a third monster. Three on three, now."

"I'll sacrifice Hyper Hammerhead for Megazowler," Rex said laughing. "And now your Swords are gone, and next turn I'll finish you off in one giant dino-blitzkrieg!"

"No, you won't. I activate the Black Luster Ritual!"

"Black Luster Ritual? What's that?"

"A rare and powerful magic card, used to summon one of the most powerful monsters in the game—something that equals a Blue-eyes White Dragon in every way!"

"What is it?" Rex demanded.

"The all-mighty Black Luster Soldier!" The boy grinned. "As all rituals, this one works through sacrificing. By offering the Wall of Illusion and Hysteric Fairy I had on the field, I can create this soldier of darkness. Light and Darkness, intertwine! Open the Gateways of Chaos!" the child shouted. His two monsters vanished into the two jars on either side of a board with two swords crossing on its face. The board—and the swords—split down the center, opening a black hole.

A beam of white light, and a beam of black light shot from the two jars, entering the opening. They swirled together, and a blinding, terrible burst of light blinded Rex. When he could see again, a blue-armored warrior stood in front of his opponent. Around it was a dark aura. "Say hello to the Black Luster Soldier!"

"Oh, no! How am I supposed to beat that thing?"

"I don't know. Now, Black Luster Soldier, destroy the Megazowler with Chaos Blade Strike!" The warrior leapt into the air, his giant blade gleaming in the setting sun. He landed, and brought that sword crashing down to the ground. A fissure opened up in the earth before it, leading right towards Megazowler. Then, bright light emerged from that fissure, burning away at the dinosaur.

"I can't believe it! How am I supposed to stop it?"

"If I played it, then that means that I don't want you to stop it." The boy grinned. "Face it, Rex, I've got you beat. Your deck only works well when you can get out your powerful monsters without interference. What I've done is created a monster that can stop you in your tracks."

"I'll find a way to beat you."

"Really? I know that there is no card in your deck that can stop this monster—and you were never one for using magic and trap cards, were you? No, that's how Weevil beat you in the Japanese Regional Championship three years ago. Your beat-down deck couldn't stand a chance against his tricks."

"I can beat you, because I learned from my defeats. For my turn, I play Nightmare's Steelcage, to keep you at bay for two turns." Thick iron bars formed a dome over the nameless challenger's head.

"Right. But once it wears off, well, you'll be done." The boy grinned. "Give it up now, Rex; there's no way you can win."

"That's what I'm hoping to find out."

"Really?"

"For my turn, I play Double Coston, in attack mode."

"For mine, I play the magic card Snatch Steal, taking control of your Coston card so that I can activate its special ability!"

"What?" Rex yelped. _He wants to take control of my monster!_

"That's right! I sacrifice Coston to summon Cosmo Queen." The boy began to laugh. "She has an attack power of 2900, giving me another monster you won't be able to stop!"

_Oh, no! I don't have anything that can stop him now! _

"It's over, Raptor."

"I switch my Dark Driceratops to defense mode, and summon Dimensional Warrior in defense mode."

"Well, I think that your Dimensional Warrior was a mistake. I summon Neo the Magic Swordsman, to attack Dimensional Warrior!"

"Activate Magic-arm Shield! Take control of Black Luster Soldier!"

"No!" the boy cried. His magician-warrior was cleaved in half by his own monster.

"Anything else?"

"Yes. I'll sacrifice my Cosmo Queen to take out that Dimensional Warrior!"

"And I'll activate the trap card Shift! Your attack will target your own monster!" The boy cried out again, as another monster fell to his own Luster Soldier.

"Your turn" he whimpered.

"I will summon another Armored Lizard, and play another Super Evolution Medicine card. And, my little reptile will evolve into the mighty Black Tyranno!"

"So what? I have control of Black Luster Soldier again. Even where you to attack, it would do you no good, because my Luster Soldier is more powerful than anything you have to attack with!"

_Oh, no. He's right! I don't have anything I can do now, except defend._ "I switch Black Tyranno to defense mode, and end my turn."

"This duel is almost over," the nameless child said. "Black Luster Soldier, Chaos Blade Attack!" The sword crashed down once again, and the beam of light crashed against the black-scaled horned dinosaur, cutting it in half.

"I'll set one monster card face-down, and end my turn."

"My turn, then," Rex groaned. "I switch Black Tyranno to attack mode, and raise his attack power to 2900 with the magic card Raise Body Heat. Now, destroy that face-down card!"

Much to Rex's surprise, the boy started to laugh. "I was hoping you'd attack my Nimble Momonga card."

"What?" Rex cried, as his monster stomped the flying squirrel that appeared to pieces. "A Nimble Momonga?"

"That's right. And I hope you know what it does."

"I've never even seen one before; how should I know what it does?"

"Fine, I'll tell you, then. It summons two more Nimble Momonga to the field to defend my life points."

"That's nothing. I'll crush them, too—and then there'll be none left!"

"Is that so? Well, that's not all they do."

"What, there's more?"

"That's right. I get 1000 life points for each one you destroy."

"That's not fair!"

"Nothing in this game is Raptor. Why didn't you figure that out years ago?"

"I'll get you for this!"

"Not so. I set two cards face down, and summon Slate Warrior in attack mode. Your move, Raptor."

"Black Tyranno, destroy Slate Warrior!"

"Activate Graverobber!" the boy shouted. "Steal the Shift trap!"

"That switches the target of my attack!"

"To one of my other Momonga cards."

"Oh, no! You gain even more life points!"

"That's right."

"Well, make your move."

"I set another card, and activate the magic card known as Fusion Sage!"

"That lets you draw a Polymerization card!"

"Right. I also get to shuffle my deck."

"My turn. Black Tyranno, reduce that Slate Warrior to rubble!"

"Not so fast. I'll activate my own Shift card, and gain 1000 more life points."

"But—no, that's—no!" Rex cried.

"My turn. I switch Slate Warrior to defense mode, and set one more card. Now, Black Luster Soldier, take out that annoying Tyranno card!"

"There's nothing I can do," Rex moaned. "I have no more monsters."

"Fine. I activate Raigeki Break, sacrificing one card from my hand to destroy my Witch of the Black Forest, and will use its effect to summon the greatest power in my deck: Cyber Stein!"

"That only has 700 attack points!" Rex said, gaining a little confidence. All he needed was a good monster to turn this duel around.

"But it has an effect. I'll sacrifice 5000 life points to activate it, and with it I will destroy you!"

"What does it do, besides cut you down to 3100 life points?"

"Simple. It lets me summon a Fusion monster."

"What good will a fusion monster do you?"

"Plenty, if it is the all-powerful Blue-eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

"Blue-eyes Ultimate Dragon?" Rex cried out in surprise. "How did you get that?"

"It was hard, but I won it in a duel." As they spoke, the Frankenstein-like creature lifted its mechanical arm, and a giant blob of putty was emitted from the nozzle. The green goo formed into a three-headed winged behemoth. "And now I'll play the Polymerization card that I drew with Fusion Sage. I'll fuse my Black Luster Soldier to Blue-eyes Ultimate Dragon, forming the ultimate monster: Dragon Master Knight."

"No!"

"Now, my Dragon Master Knight, finish this duel and attack Rex directly!" The dragon-riding soldier lifted his sword, and a bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking Rex and knocking him out cold.

Later, he would remember the boy reaching down and taking his last locator card, removing him from Battle City II for good.

He would also remember his mysterious opponent vanishing into the shadows, as silently as he had appeared . . .

**TO BE CONTINUED . . .**


	8. Duel for the Souls 8: Wolf in Sheep's Cl...

**Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**Duel for the Souls **

**WEBS OF DECEPTION I: **

**Wolf in Sheep's Clothing**

**Last Time:**

After Mai's defeat, Joey challenges Rex Raptor to a duel. If Joey wins, Mai will be given back the locator card Rex won from her, and their bet would be canceled; if Rex emerged victorious, Mai would have to go out on a date with him, and Joey would be removed from the tournament. Joey, through using his brand-new Red-eyes Black Dragon, and the Dragon Nails he won from Rex at Duelist Kingdom, destroyed Rex's Seiyaryu and won the duel.

Seto Kaiba also wins against Espa Roba, decimating the "Psychic" duelist's forces with his Saggi/Crush Card combo, and then attacking directly with one of his Blue-eyes White Dragons.

Later that day, Rex is challenged to a duel by a mysterious challenger, whom wins using the Dragon Master Knight.

Now, on day two of the tournament, Bakura is on the prowl for opponents, to keep the world from knowing that he is the one behind the entire Battle City II tournament . . .

* * *

"I wonder," Bakura Ryou mused as he walked along the streets of Domino City, "whom shall I face now?"

It was the mouth of Bakura Ryou that moved, but it was not his mind that thought what was said. For years now, Bakura had been a host, being sucked on by a vicious parasite that inhabited the gold totem dangling from a rope around his neck. It was that parasite, the spirit of a long-dead Egyptian High Priest, which thought what Bakura's body spoke.

Last night, the spirit had ambushed and defeated a duelist just the night before. Even as the man behind the Battle City II tournament, he'd never kept a single one of those precious locator cards for himself. Stupid of him.

He passed by the Domino City graveyard, where he had faced Bonez, last year at Battle City. He had been trying to get into the tournament's finals at the time, so he could win for Marik Ishtar the Egyptian God cards. Marik, in return, claimed he would give the spirit the Millennium Rod, as well as deliver the remaining Millennium Items to him.

When Bakura failed to defeat Yugi Muto, the holder of both the Millennium Puzzle and the God card Slifer the Sky Dragon, Marik refused to hand over his Millennium Rod. Bakura challenged him to a duel—and learned of Marik's greatest secret. Marik, like Bakura, had two souls inhabiting one body. One, his, was the good one, like the real Bakura. The other, like the spirit of the Ring, was evil, conceived of darkness.

The duel had a major stipulation on it—the spirit of the Ring would partner with Marik's soul, whereas Bakura would partner with Marik's dark spirit. And, to make matters worse, each time a player took life point damage, a part of his body would vanish into the Shadow Realm.

The duel began, and the spirit quickly learned that his willingness to take life point damage would soon get him killed. He failed to use his Destiny Board, Dark Necrofear, and soon he was down to almost nothing.

But, fortunately, Marik's spirit was faring poorly as well. The spirit managed to steal Marik's Egyptian God card, the Winged Dragon of Ra, from his deck. But, the spirit could not play it, after watching it strike down Marik's last opponent, Mai Valentine. She, too, had taken it from Marik's deck, but, when she played it, it unleashed its wrath on her instead of Marik.

Also, the Vengeful Bog Spirit the spirit made it so monsters could not attack the same turn they were summoned. Since magic cards only lasted for one turn on Egyptian Gods, even if Marik revived Ra, it wouldn't be able to attack. And, at the end of that turn, it would return to the graveyard. It was effectively out of the duel, or so the spirit of the Ring thought.

After Ra was gone, he summoned the Dark Ruler Ha Des, removed three monsters from his graveyard to special summon Dark Necrofear, and then revived Earl of Demise with Premature Burial. But, even though they would have won the duel for him, he couldn't attack because of Vengeful Bog Spirit.

But then Marik's dark spirit used Monster Reborn to revive the Winged Dragon. He also reveals a special ability belonging to this God card: Instant Attack, allowing it to attack on the turn it was summoned, even with Bog Spirit in play. He then sacrificed his life points to 1, giving the Winged Dragon of Ra 8549 attack points, more than enough to destroy the spirit's monsters—and the rest of his life points. The dark spirit was banished, once again, to the Shadow Realm, as was Bakura's soul.

A piece of the spirit survived, inside the spirit's greatest enemy, Yami. Marik once used a man named Bandit Keith to try to win the Millennium Puzzle from Yugi. When he failed, Marik ordered Keith to smash it, and then attack Yugi. The spirit, seeing an opportunity to increase his chances of getting the Puzzle, saved Yugi. As the boy reassembled his Puzzle, the spirit corrupted a piece, placed part of his spirit within it. Even though, in losing, Marik, the spirit, and Bakura were banished to the Shadow Realm, a part of the spirit still existed, inside of Yami's mind.

When Yami defeated Marik's dark spirit, he freed Mai Valentine, Bakura, Marik, and Yugi—who had been placed in a similar position as Bakura's soul in the duel of the dark spirits. With Marik weakened from defeat, the spirit leapt from the Puzzle back to the Ring, and bided his time.

Marik, using the Millennium Rod, freed all of those he'd trapped in the Shadow Realm—Arkana, Umbra and Lumis, Strings, and all the rest of his failed Rare Hunters. In doing so, he also released the spirit of the Ring—which he now owned. Taking control of his new host's body, the spirit returned to Bakura, taking with him the Millennium Eye, Rod, and Ring. Since then, he'd been preparing to take the final four Millennium Items: Yugi's Puzzle, Ishizu Ishtar's Necklace, and the mystic Shadi's Key and Scales.

And he had learned, from Battle City, just how to do it.

Yugi and the pharaoh were easy enough to predict; whenever their friends were in danger, both the ancient ruler and his host would risk anything and everything to save them. Ishizu and Shadi, on the other hand, were much harder to draw into a trap. But in Battle City, they revealed the only bait that would lure them back to Domino.

Ishizu Ishtar had been granted guardianship of the three all-mighty Egyptian God cards created by Maximillion Pegasus. When her brother Marik stole two of them, she went to extreme lengths to get them back. In fact, Kaiba created his Battle City tournament at Ishizu's request, to earn back those two missing cards. If the spirit could find them, Ishizu would come to him.

Shadi, on the other hand, was drawn to disturbances in the balance of power. When the spirit claimed Pegasus' Millennium Eye as his own, Shadi came to find him. Also, with the drawing together of so many dark forces from the Shadow Realm at Battle City, he appeared to investigate what was going on. If the spirit could claim either the Puzzle or the Necklace, Shadi would arrive with his Millennium Items.

And he would have all of the power he desired.

"Hey, I recognize that guy," a nasally voice said. "He's that freak who tried to take Master Marik's Millennium Rod!"

The spirit turned, but then fled into the recesses of the Millennium Ring, leaving his host, Bakura, to face what he would find standing behind him.

* * *

"Excuse me?" Bakura Ryou asked, turning around to see two robed figures coming out of the shadows of an alley. He recognized the robes instantly as those of the are Hunters, a gang of thieves that, thanks to Yugi, had been disbanded last year at Battle City. What were they doing here?

_What am _I _doing here_? Bakura asked himself. He couldn't remember anything that had happened recently. He looked down at his watch. It was 9:30 AM, but it had been more than a month since Bakura could remember anything.

And then it hit him. It was the Millennium Ring. It had to be the spirit that inhabited the Millennium Ring. At Duelist Kingdom, two years ago, it took control of him and tried to lock Yugi and his friends away in the Shadow Realm. Then, it tried to take control of Mokuba Kaiba's soulless body, and almost sent Tristan to the Shadow Realm.

Tristan thought he got rid of the Ring, but Bakura kept having blackouts, more frequently and for longer than ever before. He remembered almost nothing from Battle City, until after the Ring was stolen by Tea Gardner. The, he was forced to ally himself with the dark spirit of Marik Ishtar to try and win back his body from the Ring's spirit—and was betrayed.

There was a period of several months, after Yugi won Battle City, that Bakura's memory was unobstructed. Then he woke up one day to find Marik Ishtar at his door. When he demanded to know what was going on, the former leader of the Rare Hunters slipped the Millennium Ring around his neck, and all of his memory after that was clouded.

That was seven months ago.

"You heard what we said," replied the Rare Hunter, snapping Bakura's mind back to the present. "It was you who tried to take our master's Millennium Item."

"I don't recall ever doing anything of the sort." It was true; Bakura had no recollection of the spirit's quest for world domination.

"Well, I don't care if you remember it or not. We're going to duel you and get revenge!" the other one, a tall man with a gruff voice, said.

"Fine by me. But I don't—" He paused, looking down at his left arm. On it was a KaibaCorp Duel Disk, Type II—the kind used in Battle City last year. Well, there went _that_ excuse. "Never mind. I'll duel you, but for what?"

"We'll put up two locator cards each," the chubby, nasally voiced one said.

"But we can't both duel him at the same time!" the other one pointed out, then grumbled something that sounded like "moron" under his breath.

"Who are you calling a moron?" the other demanded. "Why don't you duel him on your own, you—you, uh—Stupid-head!"

"Why you little—Fine, I'll duel him myself. And then I'll show you who has the real talent around here, brother!" The tall one, Umbra, turned back to Bakura, and said, "I'll wager two locator cards—for that pretty golden necklace you're wearing."

Bakura looked down at his chest. It was the Millennium Ring. Maybe, if he lost, he'd be free of it forever! "Wager three and you have a deal."

"Fine." Umbra smiled. "Prepare yourself for a duel the likes of which you've never seen!"

"Fine. I'll let you make the opening move."

* * *

In a matter of minutes, they were ready to duel. Bakura stood on one side of the street—traffic had been redirected around the city and through various detours for this tournament—and Umbra on the other. The rocket-propelled hologram generators had situated themselves four meters away from the two players, instead of the usual two, forming a very large rectangle. Both players' decks had been shuffled, and were ready to duel.

"For my turn, I'll summon Melchid the Four-Faced Beast in attack mode, and end my turn."

"What, no magic or trap cards?" Lumis, the short fat one, taunted. "Did you forget something?"

"I don't need your magic and trap cards, you moron." He grunted. "I can win without your help!"

"Oh, dear. That is a good card." Bakura drew, and looked at the card he pulled from his deck. "But this can defeat it, I'm sure. I summon the Headless Knight in attack mode!"

"That monster couldn't even harm my Melchid!" Umbra barked. "You are a pathetic duelist!"

"Really? Oh, well, I'll just play this Ground Collapse card, to eliminate two of your Monster Card zones, and set a card facedown. That's all."

"Fine. I'll summon the Shining Abyss in attack mode. Melchid, reduce his Headless Knight to ruble!"

"I'll counter your attack with a trap card I played. I activate Bark of Dark Ruler, sacrificing 1500 life points to reduce the attack of your Four-Faced Beast to 0 until the end of the turn. But, since you declared an attack on my monster, you will lose 1450 life points." As Bakura spoke, the four-masked monster recoiled from the roaring emanating from the Headless Knight, which in turn brought its sword crashing down on Melchid.

"Now my Shining Abyss will destroy your Headless Knight. You wasted your trap card!"

"Not so. I destroyed one of your monsters, did I not? I also managed to force you into a false attack against my monster."

"So what? What good does any of that do you?"

"It cleared away one of your monster card zones."

"Oh, no! You don't mean you're playing—"

"Another Ground Collapse, limiting you to just one monster card zone—which is already filled with that weak Shining Abyss card."

"Oh, no!"

"Now, for the rest of my turn, I'll summon the Portrait's Secret, in defense mode." A picture frame materialized in the air in front of Bakura, and a long-haired ghoul reached its arms out, placing its palms out in front of it.

"My Shining Abyss will destroy it!"

"And I'll activate the trap card Michizure, taking your mechanized fairy with it to an early grave!" A pair of arms reached up out of the earth, grabbing the bulbous machine and dragging it down into the ground.

"Now, I'll summon the Earthbound Spirit, and attack you directly, lowering your life points down to 6050." Bakura smiled. Everything was going according to plan. "I'll also set one card face-down."

"Fine. I summon Grand Tiki Elder, to destroy your monster and relieve you of 1000 life points!"

"My turn. And now I will summon a creature of great power, known as Dark Necrofear!" Bakura paused. "But to do so requires a great sacrifice. I must remove the spirits of three of my monsters from the game—permanently. In doing so, I can summon a creature that will destroy you!" Despite his hunger for loss of the Ring, he was actually enjoying defeating this Rare Hunter. He'd played him for a fool the whole duel—especially since the Rare Hunter had no magic or trap cards at his disposal.

"My turn," Umbra grunted. He drew a card. "I'm not completely without magic and trap cards. First, I'll activate Graceful Charity, to draw three cards. Then, I'll set this card face down, and activate Pot of Greed, Reckless Greed, and Jar of Greed, to draw a total of seven new cards, and then activate the magic card The Chosen One!"

"The Chosen One! How'd you get your hands on one of the rarest cards in _my_ deck?" Lumis demanded.

"I figured I'd need to insulate myself from being betrayed by you, so I won it from some kid." Even though his face was obscured by his demonic mask and the cowl of his robe, Umbra seemed to be gloating. "And now I'll select three cards form my hand, and let you pick one. If it is a monster, then it is instantly summoned to the field!"

_Oh, dear, me! This could be bad. I know that he has not only the mighty Masked Beast, but also its guardian Des Guardius!_

"Pick one already!" Umbra roared.

"The one on the right!" Bakura shouted, closing his eyes.

"You've just summoned the most powerful beast in my entire deck!" Umbra crowed. "Say hello to the mighty Des Guardius!" The spinner and the two other cards—a Mask of Brutality and Mask of Weakness—vanished in a puff of smoke. In their place was a fiendish creature with its grotesque head and body covered in haunting masks.

Bakura just stood there, realizing that he was down to 5350 life points, and had left his Dark Necrofear card in attack mode. If it were attacked, his life points would drop viciously down to 4250. And it would obviously happen.

"Now, Des Guardius, attack and destroy that insult of a masked monster!" Bakura cringed as Dark Necrofear was pounded to pieces, but then smiled. "My turn," he said.

"You don't have anything to do!"

"That's where you're wrong. First, the spirit of my Dark Necrofear will inhabit and take control of that Des Guardius, bringing it over to me. Also, I'll play the Dark Door, restricting you to one attack per turn. Then, I'll set one card and activate Dark Sanctuary!" A red fog clouded the sphere where the hologram fields crossed. Glowing eyes pierced from the darkness, as Des Guardius bounded into the thick of the fog.

"What is Dark Sanctuary?" Lumis asked from the sidelines. "What's happening?"

"A dark spirit roams this shadowy abyss," Bakura began. "Each time a monster attacks me or one of my monsters, the spirit will invade the monster. Also, half of the monster's attack power is deducted from your life points—and added to mine!" Bakura smiled. "And, I'll sacrifice your monster to summon Earl of Demise, in defense mode."

"Not so fast. I'll activate my set trap card, Mask of Restrict. So long as it is on the field, you won't be sacrificing anything for a tribute. So, your Earl of Demise isn't allowed to be summoned. You have nothing guarding your life points!"

"Is that so? We shall soon find out, now, won't we? I'll play Souls of the Forgotten, so I can sacrifice it to keep Dark Sanctuary in play."

"I activate Monster Reborn, and revive Des Guardius. Since he is the only monster on the field, your spirit must invade him!" Bakura knew what would happen next—he'd heard what happened at the Battle City finals, when the spirit of the Ring faced Yugi.

"Anything else, Rare Hunter?"

"Yes. I'll activate the magic card Curse of the Masked Beast!" Umbra laughed. "By sacrificing two monsters form my hand, I can summon the ritual monster called the Masked Beast!"

"Did you forget about my Ground Collapse cards? You have already filled the last of your monster card zones with Des Guardius. There's nothing more you can do."

"Not so! I can activate two of the magic card Mask of Dispel! It negates your Ground Collapse and Dark Sanctuary cards, and will remove 1000 life points for each turn that passes!" Umbra began to laugh. "You don't have long left, boy!"

"How about if I were to negate one of those masks?" Bakura asked. "I activate the rare trap card Magic Jammer! At the cost of one card from my hand, it negates one of your magic cards. And I choose for it to be the Mask that targeted my Dark Sanctuary."

"Fine. I just won't attack with my Des Guardius, since it has been infected by your dark spirit."

That stung. The Rare Hunter didn't even know how much a phrase like that hurt Bakura. The dark spirit of his Millennium Ring had tried time and again to kill Bakura's friends. And it was very powerful; pure evil.

"Now, do you choose to attack with your Masked Beast or not?" Bakura taunted. _Come on_, he urged silently. _Attack!_

"Before I attack, I'll switch Des Guardius to defense mode. Now, Masked Beast, take out what's left of this pathetic fool's life points!"

Bakura couldn't hold in his relief—he uttered a quick, sharp bark of a laugh. "You fell right into my trap!" he crowed. "I activate the powerful magic of Dark Spirit of the Silent!"

"Dark Spirit of the Silent? What's that?"

"A card that will allow me to pick which of your monsters can attack, and which can't. It can even lure our cards into attack mode!"

"My possessed Des Guardius!" Umbra cried, and Masked Beast settled down on its haunches and the mighty Des Guardius lunged into the fog. It vanished, and Umbra cried out in pain and shock as the spirit of the Dark Sanctuary rose out of the fog and passed through his chest. Umbra's life point meter dropped by 1650, down to 4400, whereas Bakura's rose, from 4250 to 5900.

And then all awareness fled from Bakura, as the dark spirit inside him rose to take control.

* * *

_That pathetic simpleton! He's managed to wreck the whole duel! _

The spirit of the Millennium Ring continued to curse Bakura's incompetence, even as he surveyed the situation. Bakura had managed to avoid a complete catastrophe, by using that Magic Jammer. But, losing 500 life points each turn would not be pretty. Too bad there was no way to take out either the Mask of Restrict or the Mask of Dispel. Both would cause trouble later.

And then the spirit got an idea, one that would lead the Rare Hunter to a quick and easy defeat. "I play the magic card Toll! From now on, when you attack, it will cost you 500 life points. Also, with Gravekeeper's Servant in play, you will be forced to discard a card from your deck as well. Finally, I set one monster to sacrifice for Dark Sanctuary. Then, with my Shallow Grave, I'll bring back a card from my Graveyard, face-down."

_Now, that Mask of Darkness card will revive my Dark Spirit of the Silent, so I'll force him to attack with that possessed Des Guardius again. Then, with the other Shallow Grave magic card in my hand, I can do it over again. As long as Dark Door is in play, he can only attack me once per turn. And, so long as Toll and Gravekeeper's Servant are active, he'll lose both life points and cards if he attacks. _

_He'll be through in a matter of turns!_

"Your move, and you lose 500 life points from that Mask card keeping your second Ground Collapse at bay!" The spirit barely noticed as the life point meter fell to 5400.

"Anything else?"

"I know that you're trying to lure me into an attack, so I'll dissuade you from any notion that I'm stupid enough for that."

"Fine. But you may end up losing the duel before I even try to attack!"

"Is that so? Do you really think that your little life-draining mask will even come close to defeating me?"

"Only since you can't sacrifice any monsters to summon a stronger one!" Umbra boasted, pointing at the grotesque mask floating in the air before him. "Mask of Restrict is forcing you to play only your weakest monsters!"

It must have been very surprising to Umbra and his portly companion when the spirit began to laugh. "You fools!" he managed to get off before he doubled over in the spasm that showed his humor. "I have been leading you right into a trap that you will not escape from. Even though my life points are now at 4900, I can still beat you easily!"

"How?" Umbra demanded. "There's no monster that can stand up to the extreme might of my Masked Beast and Des Guardius!"

The spirit changed tone. "I have noticed that your deck is missing one mask card—one so vital that I'm surprised you don't own it. It is, of course, the ever-useful Mask of Darkness. When I flip it—" And he did. "—I can return one trap card in my graveyard pile to my hand. And then I can play it face down once again. True, my Mask will remain in attack mode, but those are the fortunes of war. Unless, of course, I set another card and sacrifice the Mask for my Dark Sanctuary card."

"Now I'll destroy your last monster!" Umbra cried. "Go, Masked Beast!" He removed the top card from his deck, and sacrificed the 500 life points. Masked Beast prepared to chuck its spear at the small yellow mask.

"Did you forget about my revived trap card?" The Spirit asked. "Now, I negate your attack with my Dark Spirit of the Silent, and then use its power to coerce your possessed Des Guardius into attacking my monster. But, since the spirit of the Dark Sanctuary still possesses it, you lose another 1650 life points—plus another 500, since it is a new attack. That lowers you down to 1750. However, now that that this is done, I gain 1650 life points, bringing my total up to 6550. Amazing—isn't that what your life points stood at when I attacked you with Bark of Dark Ruler and Headless Knight?"

Umbra didn't answer.

"Now, for my turn, I lose 500 life points, because of that rather pointless mask—considering that, should you attack again with anything, I'll have a Dark Spirit card to turn it against you. You barely have enough life points left to protect you from an attack."

"You can't attack though!" Umbra said. "Toll would—"

"I know of the power of Toll," the spirit snapped. Which is why I'm going to get rid of it for good. First, I'll play Pot of Greed, to draw two cards. Then, I'll activate Reckless Greed and Graceful Charity. Finally, I use the card that will end this duel: Final Destiny!"

"Final Destiny!" Umbra cried out in distress.

"Yes. By sacrificing five cards from my hand, I can destroy all of the cards on the field—including your masks and my Dark Sanctuary. The duel is about to take on an interesting new twist. To end my turn, I'll play one card face down, and activate the Shallow Grave, returning Dark Necrofear to the field, along with one of your monsters."

"I can't summon Des Guardius, so I'll summon The Masked Beast back to the field."

"Fine by me. I'll set one more card. It's your turn."

"Masked Beast, attack that freak's face-down monster!" Umbra ordered. The mask-toting spear sliced through a Cyber Jar.

"Now, both of us are forced to destroy our monsters on the field and summon up to five new cards from the tops of our decks. I'll summon Wall of Illusion, Winged Minion, and Bubonic Vermin."

"Grand Tiki Elder, Melchid the Four-Face Beast, and Shining Abyss."

"It is still your turn. Anything else you wish to do?"

"No. Go."

The spirit smiled broadly. "Good. This duel is about to reach its conclusion. First, I'll set one trap card. Then, I shall switch my monsters to defense mode."

"I shall sacrifice two of my monsters to summon another Des Guardius monster to the field. Attack the Winged Minion of Ha Des!" The great beast crashed into the little blue fiend, destroying it.

"You've fallen into yet another one of my traps—you make it so simple. I activate the great Destiny Board. In just four turns, it will spell out a message that means doom for you. You have five turns until your ultimate defeat!"

"You can still win, my friend," Lumis said from off to the side. "You can still destroy the remainder of his life points while he waits for Destiny Board to spell its message!"

"I have nothing to attack with now," Umbra said.

"And now you have only three turns, for the second of the five letters has appeared." As the spirit spoke, a ghoul holding a scroll appeared in the air. It unraveled the scroll, revealing the letter "I". The other letter, the one left by Destiny Board, was an "F".

"There is no way I can destroy his Destiny Board, Lumis. It's impossible—I ran out of magic and trap cards!"

"Quit your whining, and end your turn, so that the third letter will appear."

"I—uh, I attack Bubonic Vermin with Des Guardius!"

"And, in doing so, summon another Bubonic Vermin to the field," the spirit informed him. "Also, the third letter has come." He was correct—the ghoulish scroll- bearer carrying the letter "N" had arrived.

"Now, for my turn, I'll activate the trap card Graverobber, to open a space for the remaining messages, and to take one Mask of the Accursed form your graveyard. That is all."

"I will destroy that second Bubonic—"

"Summoning the third and final one," Bakura interjected. "Yes, and now you are one turn away form having the message completed and the duel as well." The letter "A" materialized next to the others.

"Oh, no!" Umbra groaned, sinking to his knees.

"Now, just to make sure you don't make some sort of miraculous recovery, and destroy my Destiny Board before the time is right," the spirit continued, "I will use the special ability of the most powerful beast in my deck—one that is equal in strength to the Blue-eyes White Dragon!"

"What monster is that?"

"The greatest of the Fiend-type monsters, the Lava Golem!"

"Lava Golem? What is that?"

"A very special fiend—I thought you'd be familiar with it, as your former master is the one who inspired me to acquire one. This creature can only be summoned to my opponent's side of the field, and only by sacrificing two of his monsters!" Bakura placed the card on his Duel Disk, and he smiled as both Des Guardius and the Shining Abyss melted into bubbling red ooze, which collected on the ground and began to form into a hulking creature standing three stories tall.

"What—what is—what does it do?" Umbra stammered, backing away.

"Why, during each of your turns, it will sap away 1000 of your remaining life points. But, that's not all I'm going to do this turn—even though the side effect of Lava Golem is I can't summon any monsters this turn. No, I'm going to activate a magic card I set last turn, the one my Graverobber took from your graveyard last turn. The Mask of the Accursed!"

"Why?" was all Umbra managed to say.

"Because my Lava Golem is under your control, and it has an attack strength of 3000. Also, instead of you taking just 1000 points of direct damage, you'll take 1500 points!" He began to laugh. "Even if you do manage to stop Destiny Board from its instant finishing abilities, my Lava Golem will burn through what remains of your life points in just one turn after that!"

"And what if I destroy it?"

"Then I'll just have to use the Ectoplasmer card in my hand, and drain the life force of one of my monsters to finish off the last 250 life points." The spirit shrugged. "I have just laid before your eyes three ways that the duel will end in my favor, whereas you have nothing to defeat me!" _And I know it, too. My Millennium Eye tells me all!_

"I, uh, I—" Umbra tried to say what he would do that turn, but nothing came out of the former Rare Hunter's mouth except for pathetic noises revealing his fear. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I am the spirit of an Egyptian Priest, and I will soon be the possessor of all seven Millennium Items, and ruler of this pathetic world." The spirit of Priest Seto paused, and then began to laugh. His laugh was vicious, full of malice, hatred, and anger. "You, however, are finished, for you have nothing to play. My Destiny Board has spelled out its most of its message for you, and it speaks the truth: this duel is over, and this turn is FINAL!"

**TO BE CONTINUED . . . **

****


	9. Duel for the Souls 9: Welcome to my Parl...

**Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**Duel for the Souls **

**WEBS OF DECEPTION II: **

**"Welcome to my Parlor"**

**Last Time:**

Bakura begins a duel against the former Rare Hunter Umbra. However, it seems rather one-sided, considering that Umbra had always dueled beside his friend Lumis, and has only monster cards in his deck—while Lumis holds all of the magic and traps. But all is not as it seems, as Umbra displays that, since losing to Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba at Battle City, he made plans to avoid being betrayed by his partner—including securing many of the greatest cards in Lumis' deck before the Rare Hunter organization fell apart.

But, even with great beasts as Des Guardius and Masked Beast, and powerful spells like Mask of Restrict and Chosen One, he is still no match for Bakura's shifting styles and combination moves. As his life points draw closer to 0, with cards such as Dark Sanctuary, Dark Necrofear, and Lava Golem sapping at him and his monsters, he succumbs to the Destiny Board—a magic/trap combo just as powerful as Exodia . . .

* * *

_Day three of the tournament, and I still haven't faced anyone_, Yugi Muto thought as he pulled on his shirt and buttoned it up. _If I'm ever going to make it to the finals and rescue Tea and Tristan, I've got to start dueling._

Yugi didn't even want to be in the brand-new Battle City II tournament that began earlier that week. He'd had no intention of joining in—he was already the unquestioned King of Games, and champion of last year's KaibaCorp-sponsored Battle City. After that, there was nothing else to do.

Besides, he hadn't even entered Duelist Kingdom or Battle City for the titles and prize money. He'd done it each time because it had to be done.

Two years ago, Duel Monsters' creator, Maximillion Pegasus, used the magic of an Egyptian artifact to steal the soul of Yugi's grandfather. Pegasus had been after Yugi's Millennium Puzzle, another of those artifacts, and forced Yugi into entering the Duelist Kingdom tournament he was sponsoring. Yugi won it to save his grandfather, and help his best friend, Joey Wheeler, earn enough money to save his sister's declining eyesight. He'd given Joey the prize money, and also gave away the one-of-a-kind Ties of Friendship card.

Battle City had been about more than family and friends; Yugi had entered it to save the world.

When Yugi assembled the Millennium Puzzle—which, since then, he'd worn around his neck—he had been infused with the spirit and personality of the long-dead Egyptian ruler Yami. Yami had saved the world from a great evil from the Shadow Realm five thousand years ago; with Yugi's help, he had to do it again at Battle City.

Now, Yugi was entered in the mysterious Battle City II tournament, to save two of his best friends, Tristan Taylor and Tea Gardner. Just weeks ago, Yugi had been forced into a duel against an old enemy, a nameless foe who had been among Marik Ishtar's Rare Hunter gang.

When Yugi defeated both his Exodia and its zombie form, the person using the magic of the Millennium Rod to control his mind revealed that he was also the owner of the Millennium Eye—and used it to snatch to souls of Yugi's friends, right before his eyes. He was then told that, if he wanted to rescue his friends, he'd have to enter this tournament.

On the first day of the tournament, Yugi had kept an eye out for challengers, but mainly focused on helping out some of his friends. Mai Valentine, whom he met at Duelist Kingdom and even faced in the semifinal round, had been challenged to a duel by Rex Raptor, the runner-up of the last regional championship three years earlier. Mai lost, but then Joey Wheeler, Yugi's best friend, challenged Rex. When Joey won, he gave Mai the locator card that Rex won from her, keeping her in the tournament.

Now, both Yugi and Joey had just one locator card, out of the ten required to become one of the eight finalists. Yugi had work to do, and fast.

He rushed down the stairs into the front of his grandfather's house—which was the Turtle Games store, the oldest entertainment store in all of Domino. He waved goodbye to his grandfather as he rushed out the front door, stuffing a muffin and then an apple in his mouth. He only stopped to catch the first bus that passed by, and rode into Domino, ready and waiting for the first challenge of the tournament.

* * *

"Weevil Underwood," someone said.

"Yes?" Weevil Underwood, Bug Duelist Extraordinaire, responded angrily. It was the third day of the tournament, and still he only had two locator cards. He needed eight more if he was going to enter—and, of course, win—the Battle City II finals. And the tournament was only scheduled to last until the end of next week, finals excluded.

"Do you know anything of a duelist by the name of . . . Yugi Muto?" Weevil sized up the man who spoke to him. And, in doing so, his head had to come way up—for the man was very tall. He wore a black suit, Ray-bans, and a microphone hookup. Obviously either someone's paid bodyguard, or a tournament official. Weevil put his money on the latter.

"Yugi Muto?" As he said the name, his blood began to boil. Yugi Muto was the one who kicked Weevil out of Duelist Kingdom, in the very first match. He defeated Weevil's beautiful Great Moth, and tarnished Weevil's reputation forever. And it was Muto's friend, Joey Wheeler, who kicked Weevil out of Battle City. He'd vowed to get revenge on both of them.

"You know of him?" The suited man asked again.

"Who hasn't heard of the King of Games?" Weevil said disdainfully. "And the Champion of Battle City," he grunted.

"I meant, do you actually _know_—"

"Of course I know Yugi Muto!" he shrieked. "And I hope to get my revenge on him for what he did to me!"

Instead of backing away, the man smiled. "Good" he drawled. "Then I have an interesting bit of information for you: Yugi Muto is in Domino Park, by the clock, looking for opponents. If I were you, I'd go and check it out."

Weevil turned and stalked away, rubbing his palms together and grinning widely.

* * *

"I wonder whom I should face," Yugi said aloud, as he walked through the crowds of people. The turnout for Battle City II hadn't been as big as the KaibaCorp's original tournament last year. Then again, without it being sponsored by KaibaCorp or Pegasus' famous Industrial Illusions company, the tournament would obviously have a low turnout, even with six million dollars as the prize money.

"How about me?" a familiar, high-pitched voice called form behind Yugi. He knew whom it was before he even turned around, and knew that it was trouble.

"Weevil Underwood," Yugi said with a wave of his hand. "I don't have time to deal with cheaters now—I'm looking for a real opponent."

"Is that so, Yugi? And I thought my two locator cards would greatly appreciate being joined by yours, at my side." Weevil laughed.

"Is that so? Well, I know that at least one of your locator cards will be coming over to me!" Even as he said this, Yugi felt a great power flow into his body, from the Millennium Puzzle that he wore on a chain around his neck. Yami, the great Egyptian pharaoh, was at his side. "Because I accept your challenge!"

Weevil continued to chortle. "Fine, but you only have one locator card? A pity—considering that I have two!"

"I will wager something in exchange for that other locator card, if that's what you want, Weevil."

"Such as?"

Yugi pulled seven cards from the box he wore on his belt. "The complete seven-card Exodia set—the five pieces of the Forbidden One, along with Contract with Exodia and Exodia Necross."

"You have all seven of the Exodia cards?" Weevil cried out, stepping back. "Fine. My locator cards for your Exodia cards—and you must keep them out of your deck."

"Fine by me." _I didn't even intend to use them anyway. Who knows what that Rare Hunter did to them!_ Yugi didn't feel any ink or special markings on them, but he didn't know all of the Rare Hunter's techniques for marking a card and making it identifiable in a deck.

"Now, let the duel begin!"

* * *

"Master, Weevil Underwood has challenged Yugi Muto to a duel, just as we planned."

"I already know this, Ken. My Millennium Eye shows me everything going on out there," the spirit of the Millennium Ring reminded his loyal servant. "I don't know why I even bother to keep you all around—it strains my already limited resources. And most of you don't even do anything useful."

Ken chose to ignore his master's comments. "Would you like me to display our satellite feed of the duel, master?"

"Yes, of course. It's almost as good as watching it from another's eyes." The spirit felt good about his thrashing of the Rare Hunter Umbra yesterday. Being able to thoroughly outsmart two of Marik Ishtar's former followers was such great fun. And why shouldn't the spirit enjoy it, after what Marik did to him?

Last year, in the Battle City finals, Marik and his dark side had betrayed the spirit and his host Bakura. They had been locked in the Shadow Realm. Yugi Muto rescued Bakura, but only the fact that the spirit had corrupted a piece of the Millennium Puzzle kept his age-old soul alive. No one would try to save the "evil" spirit of the Millennium Ring, after all.

The hologram generator showed a recorded image of the duel, from Weevil's duel disk, showing Yugi and both players' monsters.

_I hope you win this duel, Yugi, because, in the end, it will just wear you out!

* * *

_

"I summon Giant Rat, in defense mode," Yugi Muto said. "And set two cards, face-down!"

"My turn," Weevil Underwood cackled, drawing a card. "And your Giant Rat will not survive much longer. I play Pinch Hopper, and equip it with Laser Cannon Armor, raising its attack power to 1500. Now, destroy that overgrown hamster!" As Weevil spoke, the giant grasshopper raised its cannon up, and fired a laser blast right at Yugi's blue-furred mouse.

"Spellbinding Circle!" Yugi shouted, pressing a button on the side of his duel disk. "It stops your attack, and lowers that Pinch Hopper's attack power by 700 points!"

"Oh, no! That means I'll take 650 points of life point damage!"

"That's right."

"Oh, wait!" Weevil said. "I have this: Barrel Behind the Door. This rare trap card allows me to switch damage from me to you!"

"And I'll counter your move, by playing my own trap card, Mystical Refpanel!" An angel rose in front of Yugi, and held a mirror out to block the Pinch Hopper's laser beam. It hit the mirror, and rebounded to strike Weevil.

"Hyohyohyo!" Weevil laughed. "You fell right into my trap! You see, I was hoping you'd use that Mystical Refpanel card now, so that it wouldn't affect me later. You see, I'm going to win by forcing you to play all your good cards now, when you don't need them!"

"Thanks for telling me that up-front, because now I know your strategy. And that won't work for long, anyways, considering that I am going to win this duel and claim both of your locator cards. A cheater like you would never make it to the finals! How you managed to trick the computer to use Barrel Behind the Door to reflect _Battle_ Damage is beyond me."

"Is that so? Well, it's your move."

"And I'll switch my Giant Rat into attack mode, and summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior. Destroy the Pinch Hopper, and deliver another 600 points of damage to Weevil's life points!"

"I'll counter that attack with my Enchanted Javelin, raising my life points by 1400, so that I'm at 8150 life points, while you, Yugi, are at 8000. And I have many more ways to make you pay, Yugi. Soon you'll see."

"Still, your Pinch Hopper is destroyed, so I can attack you directly, with my Giant Rat!"

"Not so fast. By destroying my Pinch Hopper, you made a very grave mistake. It allows me to summon one Insect-type monster from my hand when you destroy it, so I'll call upon my majestic Empress Mantis!"

"And I just declared an attack—" Yugi muttered.

"Meaning your overgrown fluff ball is destroyed, and you lose the 900 life points. And it is now my turn!"

"You think so? Well, remember your Pinch Hopper?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"My Giant Rat has a very similar effect. When destroyed in battle, I can summon another EARTH monster with an attack equal to or lower than 1500. And the monster I choose is: Berfoment! But that's not all. Berfoment allows me to summon Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts to the field. And, I play Fusion Sage, to draw one Polymerization card out of my deck. With Polymerization, I fuse Berfoment and Gazelle to form Chimera the Winged Mythical Beast. And, with this Gaia Powered field magic card, I can raise his attack power, and Alpha's, by 500 points!"

"But your fusion monster cannot attack the same turn it is created, so it is automatically my turn. And for my turn, I'll set one card face down and activate the continuous magic card Insect Barrier!" A web of light surrounded Weevil, protecting him from all Insect-based attacks. "I also summon Petite Moth and Cocoon of Evolution. In just six turns, I will summon my Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth, and, with it, finish you off once and for all!"

* * *

"So, Underwood, you have a very well-practiced strategy—did you learn it from Bandit Keith?" the spirit murmured.

"What, master?" Ken, from his folding chair by the door, asked.

"Nothing, simpleton." _Weevil thinks he's real smart, pulling cards from his sleeves. He intends to use DNA Surgery to turn all cards on the field to the Insect type, and then keep Insect Barrier on the field to block all of Yugi's attacks. Very clever, indeed. Too bad Yugi will soon see through it and destroy his DNA Surgery. _

_But that's not all your planning, is it? _The spirit smiled. _Well, I'll just have to enjoy this show of trickery and theft.

* * *

_

"You think I'll let you summon that? Go, Chimera, take flight!" Yugi pointed at Weevil's cocoon. "You left it in attack mode, meaning that I'll soon bring you down by over 2000 life points!"

"Is that so?"

"Yes, it is. Chimera, destroy that pile of pink putty!" The two-headed winged beast swooped down at the giant cocoon, and hit the web of light—and stopped dead in its tracks.

"What? What happened?" Yugi demanded.

"Simple—I activated a trap card before you attacked."

"A trap? What trap?" Yugi looked around.

"The one I set last turn, DNA Surgery!"

"What does that do?"

"It allows me to turn all monsters on the field to the type of my choice. And, for this duel, I think it is fitting that all of our monsters become insects."

"You managed to stop one attack, Weevil, but when that DNA Surgery wears off—"

"Wears off?" Weevil cried. "Wears off? You fool! DNA Surgery is a continuous trap, and perfectly matched to my continuous magic card Insect Barrier. So long as these two cards are on the field, you can't attack!"

_In that case, I'm going to have to find a way to defend!_ Yugi thought.

"I'll end my turn by playing one card face-down." _This Dust Tornado card will wipe away that DNA Surgery. Since I don't have any more Insect-type monsters in my deck, it shouldn't be a problem. And, to end my turn, I'll take out that Empress Mantis!_

"Then it is my turn?"

"Not quite. I'll activate the trap card Raigeki Break, sacrificing Silver Fang from my hand to destroy that Empress Mantis card of yours."

"My beautiful mantis queen!" Weevil whimpered, as a lightning bolt struck his monster and fried it. "No matter. In just four more turns, I'll free my Ultimate Great Moth from this cocoon, and obliterate you with it. In the mean time, though, I'll summon Leghul!"

_That monster only has 300 attack points—no, 800 because of my Gaia Powered. What is he going to do with it?_

"Now, Leghul, attack Yugi directly!"

_Oh, that's right! Joey told me about this card! Uh-oh . . ._ Yugi thought as the little worm rammed him in the stomach. Yugi grunted, and watched as his life point meter fell to 6300. Weevil was still in the lead, with 8150 life points. Hopefully, Yugi would come up with something soon.

_I know I can take care of that DNA Surgery now, but what about that Leghul?_ "I activate the trap card Dust Tornado, to destroy DNA Surgery!"

"Oh, no!" Weevil grimaced as a strong wind crashed into the hologram of his card, blowing it away. "Well, in that case, I'll switch my Cocoon of Evolution to defense mode."

"Is that so? Running already, are we?"

"We'll soon see!"

"Now, for my turn, I sacrifice Alpha to summon Dark Magician Girl! And, with this Book of Secret Arts, her attack raises by 300 points. But I'm not through yet. With this magician on the field, I can activate Mystic Box! Conceal Dark Magician Girl!" The smiling female magician hid in the black box, and knives shot through it.

"What are you doing—scouring your own monster?" Weevil laughed.

"No—I'm destroying your Cocoon of Evolution card!"

"You think so? Well, what if I were to activate this Fairy's Hand Mirror, switching that attack to target your own Chimera card?"

"Oh, no!" Yugi cried out, as the box opened. Indeed, his twin-headed lion had been speared, instead of the cocoon. And, Dark Magician Girl emerged from the second box, unharmed. "But, since she's a Magician card, I don't have to relinquish control of her to you."

"I don't want that card anyway," Weevil said. Even though Yugi clearly saw him panting and staring at the monster.

"Now, destroy Leghul, and bring Weevil's life points down to 6650!" Only 350 more than Yugi's. In one turn, he'd managed to bring the score closer together.

"Now that that's over with, we only have three more turns to wait before this duel is over, and you're knocked out of the tournament!"

"Make your move."

"Indeed I will. I play Pot of Greed, to draw two extra cards." Weevil looked at them, and smiled. "I have drawn the exact two cards I need to win this duel. First, I'll lay a monster in defense mode, so that you don't get any ideas. Then, I'll play one trap card facedown. Your turn." Weevil chuckled to himself.

"And for my turn, I summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior, and set one card on the field. Gamma, attack!"

"Activate Waboku!"

"Waboku? But that reduces the damage my monster does to 0. It saves your card!"

"But it is still flipped, to reveal the instrument of your destruction: my Parasite Paracide card!"

"But you left that in Joey's deck!"

"You think I couldn't get more? It's been a year since I tricked your friend into that duel, you know. And even though I couldn't defeat him, I have a strategy that will thoroughly devastate you. And do you know why it will work? Because, Yugi, you don't have any monsters quite like Gearfried the Iron Knight. None of your cards are armored, like that. There's no way you can win against me and my army of Insect-type creatures.

"Yugi, lets face it: There's no way that you are going to defeat me this time!"

Yugi watched in horror as the parasite launched itself at Yugi, and went into his deck.

"You have only a matter of turns before you draw my parasite card, and it infects your entire deck. There's a reason my Insect Barrier is still on the field. It's because, when you draw my Parasite, you take 1000 points of damage, and all of your monsters become insects once again. And, you cannot sacrifice these infected monsters. So, you don't have any way of defeating me now, do you, Yugi? All of your best cards require a sacrifice to summon, and once my Parasite is on the field, you can't summon anything!"

"I know that I can defeat you, Weevil!"

"No, you can't. At the end of my next turn, my Ultimate Great Moth will be in a position to attack and destroy you once and for all!"

"But you have no moves to make for now?"

"Just one. So that, once Waboku wears off, you don't try to attack my Cocoon, I'll activate the Nightmare's Steelcage I won during Battle City, to paralyze your monsters for two whole turns. By the time it wears off, my Ultimate Great Moth will annihilate you!"

"Then I just have to prepare." Yugi drew a card. _This should help defend against that Great Moth once he plays it. _"I sacrifice Alpha the Magnet Warrior to play Beast of Gilfer in defense mode. I also switch Dark Magician Girl to defense mode, and end my turn." _At least I didn't draw that Parasite Paracide this turn. _

"On the defensive again, Yugi? So sad. And you still can't do anything about my Great Moth, can you? No. So I'll end my turn by playing Cockroach Knight in defense mode."

"Cockroach Knight?"

"Yes. Whenever it is sent to the graveyard, it comes back to my hand the next turn. Face it, Yugi. There's no escaping this!"

"That's what you think!" _Now _I_ need to learn how to do this. How am I going to prepare to stop that monster? _Yugi drew a card. _Beta the Magnet Warrior! But without Alpha and Gamma, it's useless against that Great Moth. Too bad they're in the graveyard . . ._ Yugi stopped to think for a moment. _That's it! My facedown card!_ "I activate the trap card Backup Soldiers!"

"Backup Soldiers? Why?"

"To bring three cards in my graveyard back to my hand!" _Gazelle, Alpha, and Gamma! This could work! _"I switch Beast of Gilfer to attack mode, and end my turn." Yugi grinned. "And Nightmare's Steelcage is gone now. You still need to wait until next turn before summoning the Ultimate Great Moth. But, That gives my Dark Magician Girl and Beast of Gilfer one turn to destroy that Cocoon."

"You think it matters? Look at the top card on your deck, Yugi. It's face-up, meaning only one thing: That card you will draw next turn is my Parasite Paracide! You won't get a chance to attack me at all!"

* * *

"Well played, Underwood. But Yugi has already seen the flaw in your plan. Or so I hope, after his last move. If not, then it's amazing that he ever beat you at all."

* * *

"Oh, no! And there is no card in my deck that can stop me from drawing!"

"That's right, Yugi, Face it—you're through!" Weevil began to laugh again.

Yugi picked up the card and placed it on his Duel Disk. He grunted in pain as a holographic tentacle wrapped around him and squeezed 1000 life points from him. Then, a tentacle reached into both of Yugi's monsters, and came out of their mouths. Gilfer didn't care; the more life-like Dark Magician Girl squealed in disgust and tried to struggle free.

"Now, for my turn, I set one card face-down."

"And it is finally time to release my ultimate monster!" Weevil shouted. "Behold the magnificent Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth!" The pink putty-like cocoon shattered, and a giant green moth rose from it. With a flap of its giant rainbow-colored wings, it rose in the air. "Now, destroy Yugi's Beast of Gilfer."

The giant moth flapped its wings again, and a sonic wave shattered Yugi's hideous monster. His life point meter dropped again, to 4000 even. It was even more powerful than Yugi feared.

And he had no way to defeat it!

_This is it,_ Yugi thought. _It's all over!_

_I'll never be able to save my friends._

And that was the only thing in the world that scared him more than Weevil's giant behemoth.

* * *

"Hey, kid, do you want to duel?" Te speaker was a teenager, probably fifteen or sixteen. He had dark hair, glasses, and was slightly overweight. He was tall, too, but to a ten-year-old duelist prodigy, just about everyone in this tournament was tall.

"Yeah, what do you think?" the kid said gruffly, brandishing the duel disk on his arm.

"Not for locator cards, though. Just for practice—and a little fun."

"Hey, I'll take you on for five locator cards! It's no fun to duel without a prize!"

The teenager sighed in frustration. "If that's how you want it. Whoever wins this match goes strait on to the finals—over a week ahead of schedule!" The teen grinned. "Since I'm a nice guy, I'll use . . . this deck, and let you go first."

"Fine!" the kid said, stepping back and switching his duel disk on. The card platforms snapped together, then lodged in the dueling position on the side of the central hub. Two hologram generators launched, riding plums of gray smoke to land two meters away, as did the teen's. They formed a giant rectangle, four meters by three meters.

"As I said, I'd let you start this little party."

"Fine!" the kid beamed as he drew his opening hand. He had a bunch of powerful cards, but nothing all that great. He had better in his deck. "I summon Mechanicalchaser in attack mode, and set two cards. I'll also activate Machine Conversion Factory, raising my robot-hunter's attack points by 300. Your turn."

"And I'll activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards, and play the trap card Blood Compensation, otherwise known as Ultimate Offering. By paying 500 life points, I can summon two monsters in a turn. The first one will be by Fire Princess, in defense mode. The other, I'll keep face down. Then, I activate Tremendous Fire, costing you 1000 life points, making both of us even at 7000. Then, I play two copies of the magic card Ookazi, lowing your life points by a total of 1600, to 5400."

"Is that all you have? A pathetic Flash-burn deck? Then what's with the Fire Princess—she look like your girlfriend?"

The teen didn't even seem to hear the boy's taunting. "It's time you faced a real duelist, child. My opening gambit isn't even over yet. I'll lay one card face down, and play the magic card Dian Keto the Cure Master. It raises my life points up to 8000—and, because of my Fire Princess and her special ability, it drains another 500 life points from you. You now have a measly 4900 life points, whereas I'm still at full power. Anything you'd like to do now?"

"Yes. I'll sacrifice my Mechanicalchaser to summon Cyber-tech Alligator!" The boy smiled. "And I'll use it to wipe your face-down monster off the field!"

"How sad, that my face-down monster is a Nimble Momonga, which raises my life points by another 1000, and activates Fire Princess to bring you to 4400. Nimble Momonga's second effect allows me to summon two more of its kind in defense of my life points. Also, I'll take this time to activate a trap card called Solemn Wishes, which raises my life points an extra 500 for each time I draw a card. Because of my monster, however, you will take 500 points of damage as well!" The teenager began to laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"By the time I draw next, you will have less than half of your starting life points. I find it amusing how, in just one full turn, I have turned the tables on you so thoroughly that I will finish my strategy, and this duel, in just a few more turns after that. Isn't that cause enough for laughter?"

"Who—who _are_ you?" the boy demanded. "How did you manage to do this in just one turn?"

"It's quite simple: _I_ am a real Duel Monster's prodigy. I have many copies of most cards in the game, and know just about every strategy that can be used against anyone. I have constructed dozens of different decks, and can use all of them to beat anyone at the level of Regional Champion. I don't know how they fare against anything higher than that—I've never faced anyone better yet. That's why I'm here.

"I'm going strait to the top, to prove that I can hold my own against duelists like Seto Kaiba, Joey Wheeler, and Yugi Muto. Beating you is a small stepping-stone. I knew, from the way you've dueled so far, that you rely on strength to win. Even those facedown cards probable support a beat-down style deck. I also knew that you'd think of me being weak, and be willing to risk all of your locator cards, if it meant an easy trip to the finals.

"However, I win through strategy and skill. And you have no card in your deck that can stop that!"

**TO BE CONTINUED . . .**


	10. Duel for the Souls 10: Insecticide

**Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**Duel for the Souls **

**WEBS OF DECEPTION III: **

**Insecticide**

**Last Time:**

Yugi is challenged to a duel by Weevil Underwood, and tricked the bug duelist into wagering both of his locator cards for Yugi's new Exodia set. As the duel begins, though, it looks like Weevil will be taking the prize, as he methodically sets up his defenses and prepares to unleash his strongest monster.

Yugi combats the first line of defense well, and barely manages to catch up to Weevil, but then he is tricked into attacking a Parasite Paracide card. In a matter of turns, he draws it. Now, with Weevil's Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth on the field, t looks like his first duel of the tournament will be his last . . .

* * *

"It looks to me like I'm going to win this in a matter of turns, considering that each time I draw, you lose life points and I gain them," the mysterious teenager said. Maximillion Pegasus watched with growing interest as the duel unfolded.

It was already the beginning of the teenager's second turn, and his child opponent was at a mere 4400 life points. Once he drew a card, his Solemn Wishes would increase his life points by 500—and Fire Princess would deduct another 500 from his opponent. The kid was through, obviously.

"I won't give up!"

"I know. That's part of your problem. Your unwillingness to accept defeat, or a good offer, is why you're in this mess. And why, at the end of this duel, I'll take all five of those locator cards." The teen smiled. "And, for my turn, I'll play Heart of Clear Water, to protect my Fire Princess from all attacks. Your move."

"I play Vorse Raider, and attack—"

"Heart of Clear Water will prevent any attack on my Fire Princess, leaving you with two options, both in face-down defense mode." The teen grinned widely. "Do you pass this turn?"

"No! I'll take out both of your monsters. Since your Fire Princess can't take damage, as soon as you're out of monsters, I can attack directly."

"That may be so, but remember what you just attacked? My other two Nimble Momonga cards, raising my life points another two thousand, and lowering yours another thousand. So, my life points stand at 11500, while you're clinging to 2900. And that sets the stage for the rest of my plan."

"Make your move. I'm not afraid!"

"You will be, boy. You will be."

_Ah, what an excellent duelist_, Pegasus thought. He knew, from experience, that duel monsters was not played just with cards—it was also a war of minds and willpower. And this teenager was playing psychological games the whole time. Pegasus saw how it started, with the teen acting weak and tentative, asking to duel for fun instead of locator cards.

His first move had been nothing short of astounding. He used the trap card Ultimate Offering to summon two monsters, Fire Princess and his first Nimble Momonga. Then, he played a pair of Ookazi magic cards, sapping 1600 life points from his opponent. The addition of a Tremendous Fire dealt an extra 1000 points of damage, but cost the teen another 500 life points. It was all made up for in the end, with a Dian Keto card, which, that's to Fire Princess, dealt the child even more damage.

The destruction of Nimble Momonga was adding insult to injury—it summoned two more, raised the teen's life points by 1000, and dealt 500 points of damage to the child. By destroying both of the other Nimble Momonga cards, it was just salt in the wound.

"Now, I draw again, costing you another 500 life points because of the excellent combination of Fire Princess and Solemn Wishes. Now, I'll end my turn by setting one card."

"My turn! I draw—"

"Hold on. I have a trap card I'd like to activate."

"What is it, a Drop Off?"

"No. Just a card called Minor Goblin Official. I can only activate it when you've got less than 3000 life points. And it seems you have 2400."

"But what's it do?"

"We'll see, in your standby phase. Which starts . . . Now!" The teen barked a cruel laugh. "And it removes yet another 500 life points from you. You have a measly 1900 life points left. And it's your turn."

"I summon Slate Warrior, and attack with all three of my monsters!" He grinned broadly. "I just took you down to 5700 in one move!"

"Yes, and it will soon be avenged. I draw, and you lose 500 while I gain 500. Now, I activate Reckless Greed, to draw two more cards, gaining me an extra 500, while it lowers you to 900. Now, I'll sacrifice two of your monsters as part of the special ability of my best monster in this deck!"

"_My _monsters? How?"

"It's the special ability of a monster that has the strength of a Blue-eyes White Dragon. And I'm summoning it to your side of the field."

"Gee, thanks."

"But that's not all! I then activate the magic card Ekibyo Drakmord, so that my all-mighty Lava Golem cannot attack!"

"What's the catch?" the boy asked.

_What a fool! This mere child has led this infant duelist through the whole game! He's about to win, and his younger opponent doesn't even know it yet. He thinks that removing that last 6200 life points will be easy with a card that strong. He probably has a way to get around that Drakmord._

_But he won't even get a chance to play it, because I designed Lava Golem to be a very dangerous card. Otherwise it wouldn't have the stats of a Blue-eyes White Dragon._

"The catch is that, during each of your turns, you lose 1000 life points. Since you only have 900 now as it is, I'd say that I've won this duel. My turn is over now, by the way."

"What?" Out of reflex, the boy drew a card. "Wait! Oh, oh no! No!" he cried, as the Lava Golem reached out and squeezed the last of his life points from him.

"That'll be five locator cards, please," the teenager said. He held out a hand, and the child's shaking hand dropped all five in it. He slipped them into a special carrying case in his duel disk.

"Bravo, bravo," Pegasus said, clapping. No easy feat, with a duel disk on your wrist, mind you. The things were very heavy. "Excellent show. Now, how about facing a real duelist?" Pegasus said to the teen.

"Maximillion Pegasus? It's an honor to meet you, but I'm afraid that I'll have to turn down that challenge."

"Oh. And why is that?"

"I never pick a fight that I can't win. I know that you created this game, and you know everything about it." He paused. "I'll face you if you ever make it to the finals, but no sooner." He nodded politely. "Have a nice day."

"You, too." _That little brat! He was my meal ticket to getting back my Millennium Eye! If I don't get it back, I'll never bring back my dear Cecilia!_

That was the whole reason Pegasus had come out of his self-inflicted confinement. It was the offer to duel for that Millennium Eye that brought him here. With it, he would become ever closer to reviving his long-dead wife.

Well, he'd have to win the last four locator cards he needed from someone else.

* * *

"Give it up, Yugi! There's no way you can beat my Ultimate Great Moth!" Weevil chortled.

"Is that so? Then why is it getting weaker?" Yugi grinned. _I forgot all about my Beast of Gilfer's special ability. It can lower the attack power of one monster by 500 points while it's in the graveyard. That gives me a chance to turn this whole thing around._

"What's happening?" Weevil cried. "It's supposed to have an attack of 4000! Why did it drop to 3500?"

Yugi knew just what he had to do to regain control of this match. Weevil was winning in life points; Yugi would win the psychological battle being waged. "Didn't you know?"

"Know what?" a frustrated Weevil Underwood demanded.

"About my Beast of Gilfer, of course." Yugi said it as though it had been obvious.

"What about it?"

"It has a special ability, but I thought you knew that, and expected it."

"What does it do?"

"You destroyed Gilfer as a monster, but it comes back as a magic card, to weaken one of your monsters. Don't bother destroying it; each time it is sent to the graveyard, it will return as a magic card to weaken your cards again."

"But, I thought I—"

"You thought it was gone?" Yugi laughed. "You thought your 'all-powerful' Ultimate Great Moth had destroyed it? Well, Weevil, understand this: It will only be fully destroyed if _I_ choose not to use it to weaken one of your cards. There's no way to end its effect, unless I choose to do it!"

Hopefully that would keep Weevil scared long enough for Yugi to plan a counterstrike.

"I have nothing left to do this turn," Weevil said, sounding defeated even though he was winning. "It's your turn."

"Fine. First, I draw—" _Swords of Revealing Light! This can hold Weevil's Great Moth off long enough for me to get out my secret weapon. I just hope he doesn't have a way to counter it! _"I play Swords of Revealing Light!"

White-glowing daggers surrounded the blue-haired insect-lover. "That can keep me from attacking for three whole turns!"

"That's right. I'll end my turn by summoning Alpha the Magnet Warrior in defense mode."

"I summon Gokibore in defense mode."

"Good. This duel is far from over. Now, for my turn, I set one card, and summon Beta the Magnet Warrior, also in defense mode."

"I'll summon another Petite Moth, and equip it with another Cocoon of Evolution. In six turns, I'll have a full-power Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth to destroy you!"

"You think so? Well, Swords of Revealing Light will wear off at the end of your next turn, so I might as well get this over with now. I summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior in attack mode, and activate my Magnet Warrior trio's special ability."

"What's that?"

"Wait and see, as I summon one of the most powerful monsters in all of Duel Monsters!"

"But you can't!"

"And why is that?"

"My Parasite Paracide prevents you from sacrificing any monsters to form a tribute summon!"

"Who said my monster was summoned through sacrifice? No, this creature is a fusion enabled by my three magnet warriors. They break apart, and re-form, as Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!"

"Oh, no! That thing's attack power is equal to my Ultimate Moth's!"

"Not quite. Remember my Gilfer Beast card? It's still weakening your monster. And, because Valkyrion is an EARTH monster, it gains the 500 attack points from my Gaia Powered magic card."

"But my Parasite card will still infect it!"

"Oh, no!" Yugi cried, as he finally saw the flaw in his own plan.

_Wait, Yugi! _Yami said. _Don't lose faith! Look at your hand! _

_What?_ Yugi asked the ancient spirit of his Millennium Puzzle. _Oh, I see. Exchange and Mammoth Graveyard. So what?_

Yami indicated Exchange. _Remember what Joey told us about his duel against Weevil, and how Weevil used an Eradicating Aerosol card to destroy his own Pinch Hopper?_

_Yes? _

_What if he has Eradicating Aerosol in his hand?_

_So what, Yami? What if he doesn't? _

_We have to try! _Yami insisted.

_All right. I'll do it!_ "I play the magic card Exchange!" The hologram flipped up. "It allows both of us to look at each others hand, and take one card. I only have a Mammoth Graveyard in mine, so you get to use it for the rest of the duel. However, I get one of your cards, too."

Weevil, looking very angry, stalked over. "Fine, take one!" he shouted.

_Yes! It's Eradicating Aerosol! _"I'll take that one," Yugi said, plucking it out of Weevil's hand. "Thank you for helping me win this!"

"I can't believe this," Weevil grumbled as he went back to his place.

"Now, Weevil, prepare to lose! I activate your Eradicating Aerosol card, destroying your Parasite Paracide card!"

"Oh, no!" Weevil cried. "My plan, up in smoke!"

"Now, I attack your Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth with Valkyrion the Magna Warrior. Since its attack power is now 4000, and Ultimate Great Moth only has 3500 attack points, I'm afraid that I win this round. And, since my Gilfer was sent back to the graveyard, he'll infect your second Cocoon, weakening its defense power by 500 points. Dark Magician Girl, attack!"

"Not so fast, Yugi. I activate a pair of trap cards, Time Machine and Shift. Time Machine will bring back my Great Moth, fully regenerated, while shift will change your little girl friend's attack to target it!" Weevil chortled in delight. "Now you lose another 2000 life points, leaving you at a mere 2000! I've won this duel, Yugi, because there is no way you can defeat my Great Moth again!"

"Is that so? Well, sorry to disappoint you, Weevil, but I know your greatest weakness in this. So, I'll play a magic card called Horn of the Unicorn!"

"What, to power up your Valkyrion?"

"No—to power up your Great Moth card!"

"What?" Obviously Weevil didn't expect that!"

"Now, I'll reveal why. I activate the magic card I played face-down before using Exchange: Eternal Rest!"

"But that destroys all cards with a card equipped to them!" Weevil said. Then, he gasped. "My Great Moth and my Cocoon!"

"That's right! They're both gone. And, Gilfer will now take over and weaken Gokibore. That only sets the stage for my next move.

"Valkyrion, destroy Gokibore, so that it will weaken your Cockroach Knight, and end my turn."

"I activate Graceful Charity to draw three cards, and then use Jar of Greed to draw another. First, I'll play Heavy Storm to clear away all magic and trap cards on the field."

"Gilfer is indestructible, so now it infects your Cockroach Knight again."

"That's not all I'm doing. I activate Premature Burial to bring back Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth again, at the cost of 800 life points. I'll finish by activating the magic card De-fusion, breaking Valkyrion back into three monsters."

"Oh, no!"

"Now, my great beast, finish off Yugi's Alpha the Magnet Warrior, and bring his life points down to 900!" The many-colored wings of the great insect whipped up a tornado that blew away Yugi's monster, and dropped his life points again.

* * *

"Well-played, Underwood. But, I still need Yugi in this tournament, so, if it appears that you're going to win, I will have to take control of your mind." The spirit of the Millennium Ring grinned. "And then lock you in the Shadow Realm, of course."

"Master, if you want Yugi to win, why did you allow Weevil to duel him in the first place?"

"It's quite simple, Ken. Weevil's burning hatred of Yugi is the kind of thing that will bring him down in the end. But, until that end comes, it will wear down Yugi. When the time comes for him to face me, then I will defeat him with ease. Marik Ishtar never managed to wear him down—because of Kaiba's rules at Battle City, Yugi only got stronger.

"He would have been worn out, too, if not for winning that Egyptian God card. Only that managed to sustain him through his ordeals in Battle City."

"But, master, what if he gets the God cards again?"

The spirit turned to his servant. "He won't—because I have already made plans to secure them, once and for all!"

* * *

"I switch all of my cards to defense mode, and set one card face-down." Yugi sighed. "That's all I can do."

"That's right. Now, prepare to lose, Yugi. Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth, destroy Gamma! Hyohyohyo!" The whirlwind broke the pinkish magnetic fighter into pieces.

_I have to destroy that Cockroach Knight. If I do that, Gilfer will return to weaken that Great Moth enough for me to kill it. _

_Wait a second! I know how I can win! That Magical Mist card I just played, when I used Summoned Skull, was how I beat Weevil the first time. Well, he's about to get a real blast from the past, if I can draw the right cards._

He drew a De-spell card. _This is perfect. With it, I can destroy Gilfer, and bring it back again! _"I play De-spell, and use its magic-destroying properties to take out Beast of Gilfer once again, and revive it again on your Ultimate Great Moth!"

"So what if you lowered its attack power down to 3000? It's still more powerful than any card in your deck, and now it's going to finish you off!" He laughed yet again. "Destroy Beta, his last defense!"

_Oh, no! I'm all out of monsters! There's no way I can win this now!_

_Be strong, Yugi!_ Yami ordered. _We can still hold him off for a little while. Remember, you have Multiply in your hand. Use it!_

_But I don't have any monsters weak enough to do that!_

_Trust in the heart of the cards, Yugi, and we _will_ win this still!_

_Okay. Here it goes . . ._

_Yes! It's Kuriboh! With this, we can still win!_

_Play it, then!_

_I will, Yami. Weevil's never faced anything like this before!_

"I summon Kuriboh, in attack mode!"

"Kuriboh?" Weevil cried out in shock. "That monster is too weak to deserve a spot in anyone's deck!"

"Is that so? Well, it won't be so weak when I activate this magic card, Multiply, making one Kuriboh into five."

"I'll destroy them one by one, then!" Weevil pointed at one of the copies. "Great Moth, destroy it!" The tornado hit, and Kuriboh exploded. But, in its place, two more brown hairballs appeared. "What?" Weevil asked, surprised.

"I forgot to mention that each time a multiplied Kuriboh is destroyed, two more take its place. It's an ever-expanding wall of furry defenders, and not even Kaiba's Blue-eyes Ultimate Dragon has penetrated it!"

"Then it is up to me to find a way to," Weevil said.

"Is that so? Well, prepare to be disappointed."

"And why is that?" Weevil asked.

Yugi only grinned in response.

"What do you have planned, Yugi?"

* * *

Little did Weevil know that his words were being echoed in the private office belonging to the spirit of the Millennium Ring. The spirit had learned, after sealing the souls of Tristan Taylor and Tea Gardner in blank Duel Monsters cards, that his powers could not penetrate into either Yugi's or Yami's minds. Sealing away two of his friends had blocked his powers!

"What do you intend to do now, Yugi?" He knew, from the digital feed, that the face down card Yugi had played was Makyou the Magical Mist. What that card would do was beyond the spirit.

The Kuriboh, however, was an excellent stall strategy. Bakura had witnessed it holding off Seto Kaiba's strongest monster, Blue-eyes Ultimate Dragon, at Duelist Kingdom. He knew, from Marik Ishtar, that it also saved Kaiba at Battle City during the two-on-two match against Umbra and Lumis.

How the spirit hated those pathetic balls of hair! It was a Kuriboh that Yugi used to defeat the ghost of Dark Sanctuary. It, in a combo with Collected Power and Exile of the Wicked. Collected Power drew the Dark Sanctuary ghost into Kuriboh, and then Exile destroyed Kuriboh with the ghost.

Seeing it used against Weevil was a minor consolation. The spirit had always hated that little worm.

"We'll see what you have planned, Yugi. I'm very patient, after all."

* * *

"You see, Weevil, the original Kuriboh is still in play. It's just hidden. But, since all you see are copies, you don't know which one it is. But, It won't be here long, because I intend to sacrifice it!"

"Sacrifice it? For what?"

"The monster that defeated you at Duelist Kingdom, Weevil: My Summoned Skull!"

Weevil waved a hand dismissively. "So what? Its attack strength is still too low!"

"Not for long. First, I activate my face-down magic card, Makiu the Magical Mist!" A thick fog rolled in, soaking everything. "Its dampness increases the power of my Summoned Skull's electric assault. And, your overgrown moth is so waterlogged that it has become a giant lightning rod!"

"What? Oh, no, not again!"

"I'm not done yet, Weevil. Now, I activate the magic card in my hand, United We Stand, raising Summoned Skull's attack and defense 800 points for each monster I control. Since there are five of my copied Kuriboh cards still in play, United We Stand raises his attack and defensive power by another 4800 points. And, since his attack, thanks to Makiu the Magical Mist, is 3500, that gives my Skull a total attack of 8300. Your monster has a mere 3000 attack points, meaning my attack will deal 5300 points of direct damage to your life points. And that will win me the duel, Weevil!"

"Oh, no!" he whimpered again, sagging to his knees.

"Now, Summoned Skull: Lightning Strike!" Yugi shouted, pointing at Weevil's soaked insect. Electricity crackled around the winged field, and the twin curling horns on it head began to glow.

A bolt of lightning descended from the heavens, striking its head. The power flowed through its body, and out of its bare-bone arms. Streams of electricity danced through the moist air, meeting in one point: Weevil's monster. A final, giant, bolt of lightning struck it, and disintegrated it instantly.

Weevil fell back, resting on his knees and heels. His arms were dangling loosely at his sides. His eyes had a haunted look in them, and holographic smoke still rose from him.

"Your Battle City days are through once again, Weevil. Now, hand over those two locator cards, as we agreed."

With a little cry of despair, Weevil handed over the two cards, then scampered off as fast as he could.

"Now we're one step closer to the finals," Yugi said out loud to Yami.

_Yes,_ the spirit of the ancient pharaoh agreed in their mind link. _One step closer to saving our friends.

* * *

_

"Man, I wonder what Yugi's doing now," Joey Wheeler said as he nursed a Pepsi—he hated the junk, but it still gave him the sugar and caffeine he needed to stay awake at this hour—in the diner on the outskirts of the Domino City Public Park. It was the fourth day of the tournament, and Joey had only been involved in one duel, and gave away the locator card he got from it. Well, he couldn't exactly complain, since he gave it to Mai Valentine, and got a hug and a kiss from it. Not to mention Rex Raptor's favorite card, the rainbow dragon Seiyaryu.

He looked out the window, and a flash of light drew his eye. Off on the sidewalk, across a busy highway, a duel was going on. And, judging from the brightness of the flashes, something big just happened.

He watched as a pair of monsters—a Dungeon Worm and Monster Tamer, by the looks of things—vanished into shining particles, and reformed themselves in a giant wooden box. _That can only mean_ . . . Joey thought.

He watched as the double duel cycled to the team who'd played the hidden monster again. Two more monsters, Shadow Ghoul and Wicked Worm Beast, dissolved to form yet another box.

On the turn of the player who played the first box, two more monsters were sacrificed, and a third box materialized. All three began to shake violently, and bright light was emitted from each. The first box released a pillar of yellow energy; the second a beam of blue, deep and dark as the ocean itself; the final box's blast was a pale green, like grass swaying in the wind.

"Guardians of Thunder, Water, and Wind," Joey whispered, remembering when Sanga of Thunder, Suijin, and Kazejin were first unleashed upon him. It was his last match before the Duelist Kingdom finals began, when he won his tenth star chip. It had been a double duel, when he and Yugi had teamed up to take down the freakish rhyming Paradox Brothers.

But that was over two years ago, and Joey hadn't even heard of the Paradox Brothers since. Then again, Yugi had told Joey of a greater duelist team, the Rare Hunters Umbra and Lumis. While Para and his younger brother Dox tried to overwhelm an opponent with their shifting Labyrinth Wall maze and the second-strongest card in duel monsters—Gate Guardian—the Rare Hunter team used a varying strategy to weaken their opponents before taking them down.

Yugi and Joey beat the Paradox brothers by fusing Joey's Red-eyes Black Dragon and Yugi's Summoned Skull. They then powered it up with Joey's Copycat card—which copied the magic effects of the Paradox's Riryoku magic card—and moving it into attack position with Yugi's Shift. It had been difficult, to say the least, but they managed, and both Joey and Yugi won their last star chips.

Now, though, Joey wasn't interested in dueling. He wanted to finish his dinner, a hamburger and fries. He hadn't run into anyone he knew today, and no duelists to face, either. It was a waste of a day, but that's how fortune works. Maybe there'd be some late-nighters out who would be looking for a challenge.

But, if he didn't find someone by eleven o'clock, he'd head home. Hs dad never cared if he got home late—he was usually asleep by eight anyway. After he paid for and finished eating his meal, Joey got up and walked out. The duel with the Paradox Brothers had ended spectacularly—one attack from their all-powerful Gate Guardian, and it was all over.

* * *

"Master, the target has left the diner, and is moving towards the park," Panik reported into the small microphone hidden in his shirt collar. "Shall I move into position?"

"Yes, simpleton." His master seemed angry about something, but he didn't know what. It probably wasn't his business, anyway.

"Fine. Arkana and the others are already in position, waiting."

"That's great. Now, hurry up. I want Wheeler removed from this tournament for good!"

"As you wish, boss. I'll keep you posted. And soon Wheeler will be nothing but a painful memory!"

* * *

"Brother, look over there!" Dox said, sounding distressed.

"What is it?" Para demanded, looking where his younger brother pointed.

"It's Joey Wheeler! Lets follow him, so he can lead us to Yugi Muto."

Para thought about it. Yugi Muto and Joey Wheeler were the only duelists to defeat Para and his younger brother while they were employed as Duelist Eliminators at Duelist Kingdom. Since then, they hadn't lost, and had greatly improved. Now all that was required was a duel against those who beat them.

And if following the blond runt would bring them back to their former glory, Para was willing to do it.

"All right, let's see where he goes," Para conceded.

"Wait!" Dox hissed.

"What?"

"We won't be the only ones following him," Dox whispered. "Our old friend Panik has taken interest in him as well."

"Panik lost to Yugi, and hasn't gotten over it. A mind like his wants revenge. We may end up needing to defend young Wheeler."

"Why is that, brother?"

"Because, if we defend Wheeler, then we shall have a bargaining chip, which may lead us to a duel against Yugi and Joey."

Dix nodded in acceptance. "Good plan. Now, let's hurry, before he goes. And I think we can enjoy stalking the stalkers!"

**TO BE CONTINUED . . .**


End file.
